His wife Anjana reveals, “We’ve every wall in our house covered with paintings and also have stacks of them on the floor.” Well, if one has been buying, collecting and commissioning paintings for the last 25 years, one would eventually run out of space, someday.[break]
“I used to try and convince my husband to sell some of the paintings,” laughs Anjana, further adding, “But he always had this dream of having an exhibition of his collection.” And the dream did materialize into reality.
On Tuesday, April 26 “Jewels of Newar Art”, a show consisting of over 60 paintings and sculptures of exquisite splendor, breathtaking labor and rich heritage opened at Siddhartha Art Gallery to a huge crowd.
Two days before the exhibition, the couple along with their two sons, Prajwol and Siddhartha, were busy setting up for the show.
Prajwol, the older son, stops for a while to explain some of the paintings to a visitor. “Prem Man Chitrakar is one of the first artists to experiment with the background of Paubha paintings,” he points out and goes on, “The artists, however, don’t change and tamper with the iconography of the deities.” Same applies to the hand and body gestures or mudras of the deities depicted in the paintings, some with narratives and some without.
By ‘experimenting’, artist Ujay Bajracharya explains that traditional Paubha paintings have motifs and patterns in the background but nowadays artists depict landscapes and other sceneries as well, drawing influences from Thangka paintings. He shows the details in his own paintings on the gallery’s second floor and they are mind boggling.
If an average gallery visitor spends only a couple of seconds viewing a painting, this is one exhibition where you will have to stop for a few minutes, to simply observe the tiny brush strokes.
“You’ll need a magnifying glass to look at these works,” smiles Prajwol. But of course, artists don’t use magnifying glasses to paint extreme fine details. Spending months on one painting, an artist makes only two to three works per year and the materials in modern times have changed from semi-precious minerals to poster and oil colors.
While showcasing works by the few remaining Paubha artists, this exhibition also becomes important in examining various changes in Paubha art.
In her recently published essay titled ‘Paubha in the 21st century’, IMAP Reader, A collection of Essays on Art and Theater in Kathmandu, 2011, painter and designer Promina Shrestha analyses traditional art under varying aspects such as themes, rituals, teaching methods, and colors, all of which have evolved since the mid-twentieth century.
As outlined by Shrestha, rituals include brata (fasting), puja and inscribing of a mantra on the back of the canvas. “Since most of the paintings aren’t made for religious purposes, we don’t follow rituals,” reasons Amrit Dongol. Similarly, the convenience of purchasing oil and poster colors has replaced the rather expensive mineral colors.
Shrestha researches and compares paintings by Deepak Kumar Joshi, Lok Chitrakar and Udaya Charan Shrestha. “We have works by all three here at the exhibition,” informs Purna, who collects paintings by senior as well as young artists alike. A man of few words, Purna and Anjana are actually human rights activists by profession and run HimRights: Himalayan Human Rights Monitors, a non-governmental organization at Kupondole. “My younger son says he wants to join art school,” he states. While Prajwol, on the other hand, did his undergraduate studies in International Relations.
“This is my favorite painting,” says Siddhartha Art Gallery curator Sangeeta Thapa of Samundra Man Singh Shrestha’s “Vajrapani”. From the composition to the finesse in colors, Samundra’s work stands out among other pieces and is priced at 1.5 million rupees. The 33-year-old started painting when he turned 18 and works from his home at Lazimpat.
“The fine artists look down upon Paubha painters because they are classified under the crafts,” states Thapa further adding “But the irony is that Paubha paintings have more dominance in the market. So it’s the Paubha artists who should be laughing at the fine artists.”
Fortunately, regardless of whoever has the upper hand in the market, Boddhisattva Gallery runs with the aim of honoring and supporting the continuation of Paubha traditions, rather than just selling the paintings.
Jewels of Newar Art will be on view at Siddhartha Art Gallery until May 15.
Kanchan G Burathoki is a contributing arts editor for Republica.
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