Mohan Samant
Articles

The Times Of India
Friday 11 February 2000

 

Mumbai son may be one of the top 100 artists of the century. Artist Mohan Samant has been shortlisted byTime magazine as one of the 100 best artists of the century, he is the only Indian artist to have gained such recognition in artists of the the West.

Mohan Samant brings his works to India this month from New York, where he has been living for the last four decades.

Samant will be holding his first exhibition in the new year, in India, at the Jehangir Art Gallery, from 16 to 22 February 2000. On display will be more than 35 multimedia works, some of which are very large.

Samant has been stated as being 'incomparable' by Sir Kenneth Clark, former Director of London's National Art Gallery, Alfred Barr of Manhattan's Museum of Modern Art and renowned art critic John Richardson. Contemporary, monumental in scale, and visually dramatic, Samant's works reflect his early training in the history of Indian miniatures and his subsequent study of ancient Sumerian tablets, as well as Egyptian art and the cave paintings at Lauscaux. The essence of these varied cultures that have been perceived and distilled into his works continue to develop. Perhaps it was his Indian background that enabled him to interpret the timeless continuum of art.

Besides being a painter par excellence, he is also a Sarangi exponent and Mumbaikars will have the pleasure of watching him play live, surrounded by his works, at his exhibition.

National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), and DSP Merrill Lynch, have jointly organised a preview of the multi-media paintings of Mohan Samant on February 11, from 6.30 pm, at National Gallery of Modern Art, opposite Prince of Wales Museum.