<p>Flowers in white, lilac, red, orange, peach et al bursting on the canvas; faces of common folks and Bolllywood beauties; nudes, and of course, landscapes and abstracts with flowy, bold and confident lines serenade viewers representing dreams, illusions, emotions, and bright feelings of love. All these in water pigments. That’s the world of India’s famed water-colourist, Samir Mondal.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Wearing a soft smile, Samir says, “Water colours suit my temperament. Born in a small village in West Bengal, I grew up on the banks of the Ganges and played in its surroundings with water, clay, ash and colours I derived from fruits and vegetables. To enjoy and be successful in what one does, a person needs to be comfortable with his/her ambience and I am happy and at ease with water colours!”<br /><br />Water colour revolution<br /><br />Till very recently, in India, water colour art didn’t get the respect due to this medium. Most dismissed it as a mere hobby or child’s work. Neither buyers nor viewers were attracted to it for there was a misconception that serious work of art could either be in oil or acrylic. Interestingly, the world over, water colour works besides being popular, and much in demand too.<br /><br /> In UK, Russia, France, Thailand, China and Japan, large exhibitions of water colour works are regularly held. In January this year, The Masters of Water Colours exhibition at St Petersburg had hosted 80 artists, of them 40 were from Russia while the rest came from other parts of the world. On display were over 300 works from the masters, and Samir was one of them.<br /><br />“There is a misconception that water colour paintings have a short lifespan. In fact, water colour works have survived more than 35,000 years in the caves of Asia and Europe. Even in India, frescoes at Ajanta and Ellora caves date back to nearly 8th to 10th century CE,” Samir explains.<br /><br />It’s not as though Samir didn’t try his hand with oil or other paints. Especially after he graduated from the Government College of Arts in Kolkata, way back in the 1970s, he, like many others from arts schools in Bengal, were under the influence of British art. So, for a brief stint he too tried working with oils. “I wasn’t comfortable with the medium. Moreover, oil paints and the canvas were beyond my reach. I couldn’t afford them,’’ says Samir, reminiscing about his days as a struggling artist. <br /><br />Still under the influence of British masters in the use of shade of colours and the subjects, Samir restricted himself to landscapes. “We were taught to keep away from black and white colours. This was the time when I was exposed to Chinese water colours and was excited about their strong and bold brush strokes. One of my teachers, Ganesh Haloi, an abstract artist of repute, influenced me immensely, especially his copies of the Ajanta murals. This led me to begin studying water colours used in ancient cave paintings.”<br /><br />And since then he has continued doing water colour painting despite the hardships he encountered. He accepted a job at the Government Science Museum in Kolkata and was later transferred to Bengaluru and ultimately arrived in Mumbai. A chance meeting with Pritish Nandy, the then editor of Illustrated Weekly, ultimately brought him the much sought after recognition. His illustration of a column on the stories of Mulla Nasruddin in the magazine was highly appreciated by readers. <br /><br />His water colour portraits of Bollywood stars were used in the now discontinued weekly newspaper, Sunday Observer, which featured weekly interviews of film stars like Madhuri Dixit, Salman Khan, Rekha, Madhubala, Jackie Shroff and several others. He was approached to do commissioned work but steadfastly refused, not wanting to sell his soul for a few pieces of lucre.<br /><br />Passion for painting<br /><br />“I paint because I enjoy it, so why should I compromise on my happiness? Just because oil paintings fetch more, I certainly won’t work with it. I have never accepted commissioned works and people have called me mad for turning down offers,” confesses the man who has held many solo and group exhibitions of his work in India and around the world also.<br /><br />To reach this position, Samir had to experiment and evolve his own technique. Water colour paintings generally gave this feeling of soft gentleness or tranquility while the excitement was missing. Samir integrates definite structures and bolder colours in his works. As he explains, “Unlike oil paints, in water colour every brush stroke involves some modulation. I exploit the two-dimensional space of my paper with motifs and play with the lack of perspective depths. My next experiment is to get the 3-D effect.”<br /><br />Samir gets bored easily and is not repetitive like other artists who continue their fascination with a motif or an icon for ages. He says, “I am restless and willing to experiment. I don’t want to be outdated, I want to be contemporary. I get bored with doing the same thing. I did a series on different flowers when I turned 60 as I wanted to wish people with flowers.’’<br /><br />In times when top-end galleries and collectors decide the fate and popularity of artists, Samir is an anathema. He is not in favour of galleries or shops. He keeps himself away from them. If you desire a Samir Mondal painting, you need to approach him directly. He is happy to interact, explain about the painting and discuss the art scene in such detail that along with one of his water colours, you would return enriched with knowledge of the art world.<br /><br />His dalliance with Bollywood, which happened when actor Aamir Khan approached him to paint Darsheel Safary’s portrait for the penultimate scene in the film Taare Zameen Par (2007), he considers his ‘aha’ moment. “I loved the moment when the painting appeared on the screen and spontaneously some members of the audience watching the movie exclaimed, ‘Aree yeh to Samir Mondal ka work hai!’,” recounts Mondal, happy that his work is recognised by lay people too.</p>
<p>Flowers in white, lilac, red, orange, peach et al bursting on the canvas; faces of common folks and Bolllywood beauties; nudes, and of course, landscapes and abstracts with flowy, bold and confident lines serenade viewers representing dreams, illusions, emotions, and bright feelings of love. All these in water pigments. That’s the world of India’s famed water-colourist, Samir Mondal.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Wearing a soft smile, Samir says, “Water colours suit my temperament. Born in a small village in West Bengal, I grew up on the banks of the Ganges and played in its surroundings with water, clay, ash and colours I derived from fruits and vegetables. To enjoy and be successful in what one does, a person needs to be comfortable with his/her ambience and I am happy and at ease with water colours!”<br /><br />Water colour revolution<br /><br />Till very recently, in India, water colour art didn’t get the respect due to this medium. Most dismissed it as a mere hobby or child’s work. Neither buyers nor viewers were attracted to it for there was a misconception that serious work of art could either be in oil or acrylic. Interestingly, the world over, water colour works besides being popular, and much in demand too.<br /><br /> In UK, Russia, France, Thailand, China and Japan, large exhibitions of water colour works are regularly held. In January this year, The Masters of Water Colours exhibition at St Petersburg had hosted 80 artists, of them 40 were from Russia while the rest came from other parts of the world. On display were over 300 works from the masters, and Samir was one of them.<br /><br />“There is a misconception that water colour paintings have a short lifespan. In fact, water colour works have survived more than 35,000 years in the caves of Asia and Europe. Even in India, frescoes at Ajanta and Ellora caves date back to nearly 8th to 10th century CE,” Samir explains.<br /><br />It’s not as though Samir didn’t try his hand with oil or other paints. Especially after he graduated from the Government College of Arts in Kolkata, way back in the 1970s, he, like many others from arts schools in Bengal, were under the influence of British art. So, for a brief stint he too tried working with oils. “I wasn’t comfortable with the medium. Moreover, oil paints and the canvas were beyond my reach. I couldn’t afford them,’’ says Samir, reminiscing about his days as a struggling artist. <br /><br />Still under the influence of British masters in the use of shade of colours and the subjects, Samir restricted himself to landscapes. “We were taught to keep away from black and white colours. This was the time when I was exposed to Chinese water colours and was excited about their strong and bold brush strokes. One of my teachers, Ganesh Haloi, an abstract artist of repute, influenced me immensely, especially his copies of the Ajanta murals. This led me to begin studying water colours used in ancient cave paintings.”<br /><br />And since then he has continued doing water colour painting despite the hardships he encountered. He accepted a job at the Government Science Museum in Kolkata and was later transferred to Bengaluru and ultimately arrived in Mumbai. A chance meeting with Pritish Nandy, the then editor of Illustrated Weekly, ultimately brought him the much sought after recognition. His illustration of a column on the stories of Mulla Nasruddin in the magazine was highly appreciated by readers. <br /><br />His water colour portraits of Bollywood stars were used in the now discontinued weekly newspaper, Sunday Observer, which featured weekly interviews of film stars like Madhuri Dixit, Salman Khan, Rekha, Madhubala, Jackie Shroff and several others. He was approached to do commissioned work but steadfastly refused, not wanting to sell his soul for a few pieces of lucre.<br /><br />Passion for painting<br /><br />“I paint because I enjoy it, so why should I compromise on my happiness? Just because oil paintings fetch more, I certainly won’t work with it. I have never accepted commissioned works and people have called me mad for turning down offers,” confesses the man who has held many solo and group exhibitions of his work in India and around the world also.<br /><br />To reach this position, Samir had to experiment and evolve his own technique. Water colour paintings generally gave this feeling of soft gentleness or tranquility while the excitement was missing. Samir integrates definite structures and bolder colours in his works. As he explains, “Unlike oil paints, in water colour every brush stroke involves some modulation. I exploit the two-dimensional space of my paper with motifs and play with the lack of perspective depths. My next experiment is to get the 3-D effect.”<br /><br />Samir gets bored easily and is not repetitive like other artists who continue their fascination with a motif or an icon for ages. He says, “I am restless and willing to experiment. I don’t want to be outdated, I want to be contemporary. I get bored with doing the same thing. I did a series on different flowers when I turned 60 as I wanted to wish people with flowers.’’<br /><br />In times when top-end galleries and collectors decide the fate and popularity of artists, Samir is an anathema. He is not in favour of galleries or shops. He keeps himself away from them. If you desire a Samir Mondal painting, you need to approach him directly. He is happy to interact, explain about the painting and discuss the art scene in such detail that along with one of his water colours, you would return enriched with knowledge of the art world.<br /><br />His dalliance with Bollywood, which happened when actor Aamir Khan approached him to paint Darsheel Safary’s portrait for the penultimate scene in the film Taare Zameen Par (2007), he considers his ‘aha’ moment. “I loved the moment when the painting appeared on the screen and spontaneously some members of the audience watching the movie exclaimed, ‘Aree yeh to Samir Mondal ka work hai!’,” recounts Mondal, happy that his work is recognised by lay people too.</p>
