Posted By: Vina
Posted Date: Feb 09, 2007 (11:27 PM)
Have you heard 21 paintings of one of India's leading contemporary artists, Shanti Dave's The Moving Finger writes" are on exhibition in New York City ?
At a recent all-India auction, Dave's paintings are now sold at $10,000 per square foot - making him a serious contender in the investment market for Indian contemporary. He is arguably one of India's greatest living art masters. Born on September 25, 1931, to a rural family in Ahmedabad, he had ample opportunity to absorb the rich folk and craft traditions of his native Gujarat. As a student at the prestigious Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda, he blended his paintings and sculptures with action painting techniques, western expressionism, including East Asian and Arab calligraphy with India's rich and complex rural art.
It was this evolvement that created Dave's own original visual language and brought him well deserved accolades from all over the world. Unmistakably Indian, his unique combination of wood-block painting, stone carving and the blending and weaving of multiple colors, his artistic works have become quite distinct in form, method and presentation.
His first major painting in the United States was a large mural for Air India's New York JFK airport's VIP lounge, which garnered immediate praise from American art critics and featured on the front page of The New York Times on February 5, 1964. Since then, his art work have been exhibited and promoted in ITT advertisements in Time-Life and Newsweek and is currently owned by a number of prominent American collections, including the noted collector, Monroe Wheeler. His paintings and sculptures are prominently featured throughout the world, including major European and American cities and across the entire Indian subcontinent.
I found Dave's art transcends religious symbolism, historical landscapes beyond time and space. He well deserves a prominent place in contemporary Indian art in the global market place, where one of his paintings can double their value within a short space of time. Buy one as a Valentine's Gift for your loved one.
Filmmaker Vinanti Sarkar [email protected]
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