100-year-old paintings by legendary artist Venkatappa infested with fungus

Bengaluru: If you walk into the recently renovated and reopened Venkatappa Art Gallery here, you will find some of the display spots empty on the first-floor gallery dedicated to the eponymous artist. Thanks to a fungal problem in the gallery, a few 100-year-old paintings of legendary painter, sculptor and veena player K Venkatappa have been removed from display.

The first-floor of the gallery houses 436 objects related to Venkatappa, including 58 artworks, 15 certificates and musical notes, nine photographs, 122 books, six veenas, and various personal belongings like tools and medals.

Of the 58 artworks, eight watercolour paintings have been sent to the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) for conservation. Full Moon, Ooty (1926) and Monsoon Rain, Ooty (1926) are among the paintings removed from display for restoration. Apart from these eight artworks, a few more paintings at the gallery have encountered liquid damage. 

A gallery official said that while the works of Venkatappa were yet to be evaluated by the state government, each watercolour work is estimated to value between Rs 50-57 lakh. 

“We noticed that the paintings had developed a slight fungus and immediately contacted the Intach for cleaning and restoration,” said A Devaraju, Commissioner for Archaeology, Museums and Heritage. 

He attributed the fungal problem to the humid environment of the gallery. “The Venkatappa Art Gallery has always had a humid environment. The building is in a low-lying area, surrounded by greenery and a waterbody. Plus, there is a minor issue of waterlogging at Cubbon Park. The old gallery building was not air-conditioned. Now that the renovated building is fully air-conditioned, there are some issues with ventilation and humidity,” he added. 

In an attempt to prevent further damage to artworks, the air-conditioning at both the galleries on the first and second floors, housing works of K Venkatappa and K K Hebbar, respectively, has been switched off.

Currently, the paintings are being sent in batches to Intach for restoration every 25 days. The gallery is also planning to sign an MoU with the non-profit for annual monitoring of artworks.  However, an annual inspection isn’t enough, opined Nalini Biluka, founder and chief conservator at Indus Art Conservation Services. “Since this is a new environment for paintings, weekly inspections are required for at least the next one to two years. Only then can you determine what is required to maintain the paintings,” she said. 

The recommended levels of temperature to maintain such artworks are 22-25 °C, along with  45 to 55% humidity. “Fungal growth occurs when the humidity levels go higher than this. Digital hygrometers can be installed for monitoring the temperature,” she added. Cleaning and restoring a fungal-ridden painting can take anywhere between six months to a year. Loss of colour and flaking of pigment is expected from such fungal growth. 

The Venkatappa Art Gallery Forum, comprising artists from across the state, presented a letter to Law Minister H K Patil on Wednesday, raising concerns about the gallery. “The paintings should never have reached this condition. Even before the gallery was inaugurated, several artists had raised concerns regarding humid conditions in the gallery. They would keep the AC on the entire day and then at night lock the doors with the AC off. Darkness, humidity and high temperature are the perfect breeding ground for fungus. The gallery was supposed to have an advisory committee with artists to deal with such matters, but there’s no news of that either,” said artist Sheela Gowda, a member of the forum.