Artist interprets verses of saints through his paintings

“Famous verses by saints from all over India have been my inspiration to come up with a series of paintings,” says Vasudeo Kamath, an internationally acclaimed artist whose exhibition Mogara Fulala: blissful fragrance will be inaugurated on Tuesday at 5pm in Jehangir Art Gallery. The exhibition

that will be inaugurated by Shankaracharya HH Shri Vidya Nursinh Bharati (Karveer Peeth Kolhapur), will be on till October 4.

The exhibition displays 27 paintings based on famous verses written by Indian saints such as Dyaneshwar, Tukaram, Surdas, Namdev, Kanhopatra, Janabai, Chokhamela, Savtamali and Thiruvalluvar.

“While reading the verses of these saints, some images formed in my mind. I have been listening to them since my childhood. The impact resulted in the series of paintings.” While 17 paintings in the exhibition use oil on canvas, the rest are in watercolour.

Conducting his sixth exhibition at Jehangir, Kamath has exhibited his work across India and abroad. Before this exhibition, the 54-year-old realist artist has done many series of paintings based on Guru-Shishya and Krishna.

“I love the medium of portrait and landscapes. Displaying reality is my forte. For this exhibition I had made a list of almost 500 Indian saints but every exhibition has its limitation!” adds Kamath.

Senior artist and president of Bombay Art Society, Prafulla Dahanukar said: “Kamath is a perfect realist painter. His skills are flawless when it comes to imagination, anatomy and ideas. His thoughts become his paintings.”

Kamath is the only Indian artist to have won the Draper Grand Award by portrait society of America for his portrait titled My Wife in 2006. Last year, he painted a live portrait of President, Pratibha Patil.