By Shriram Khadilkar
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| V A Mali with an Industrialist and his portrait |
The great painter V. A. Mali was a living legend. Two months
ago, on 22nd August 2011, he completed 100 years of age and embarked
on his 101st year. A long and eventful
journey; where the spirit was raring-to-go, even till this grand age. I had
been to his house to greet the doyen of Indian art.
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| vasaiwale (Boys from Vasai) |
I am one the few fortunate ones who got to know the painter
well. Some years ago, I enjoyed my last privilege of working with him as member
of jury for a fine art competition. I was hesitant of his approval of my views,
but everything sailed very smoothly. In fact, he lauded a few praises on me.
And I felt rewarded.
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| V A Mali on his 100th birthday |
Artist Vasant Anant Mali was from Kolhapur. His father and
grand father were also painters. He came to Mumbai to study at Sir J. J. School
of Art and was highly impressed by Prof. Chudekar, who was known for applying colours in patches. Around the same
time, Prof. Walter Langhammer used to work with knife. Mr. Mali also started using
a similar technique of applying colours in bold patches. His brush strokes were bold, and there was
always the white space of the canvas peeking through between two strokes. The
forcefulness of his brushwork was so unique that, till date, nobody is able to
copy his style.
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| mor viknaare tarunee (Peacock seller) |
He was renowned for his talent and one of the highest paid
portrait painters of that time. Many a celebrity was portrayed by Mali: Mr. Daftary
(Attorney General), Mr. Chhagla (Justice - Bombay High Court), Industrialists Shri
S. L Kirloskar, Valchand Hirachand, B. D. Birla and so on... The interesting
thing was that he was painting portraits in a conventional style, but doing
other paintings in his own patchwork style. In this distinctive style he
painted makadwala, a peacock seller
girl, kadaklaxmi, bairagi (sadhu), vasaiwale etc., which were a real treat
for his followers.
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| tuntunewala (instrumental folk artiste) |
He had a good friend circle too. Stalwarts like Mr. N. S. Bendre,
S. M. Pandit, S. L. Haldankar, V. P. Karmakar, Gopal Deuskar, and Harish Talim were
close buddies. He was an active and dedicated member of the Art Society of
India for a long time. He won several
accolades during his lifetime; among them were the Gold Medal each from Bombay Art
Society and Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta and a Silver trophy from Art Society
of India. Bombay Art Society greeted him with the prestigious Roopdhar Award.
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| Shri S M Dahanukar |
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| Smt.N S Dahanukar |
Two months ago, on 22nd August, I went to his
house to personally wish him for his 100th birthday. He looked physically tired but
his mind was agile. He told me that as soon as he becomes fit, he is going to
paint a canvas in oils. He was very eagerly waiting to paint a
portrait of his son Kiran. But kismet...
His end came on 8th Oct.’2011, around 10.30pm.
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| Nepali |
We
have lost a great painter. An adviser. A mentor. And a very honest and humble
human being.
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| Chief Justice Mr. Beaumont |
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| kadaklaxmi |
A commendable artist. His paintings must be so spiritual and lovely that the Lord kept him around for a longtime to create more and more. He certainly inspired me as I read and looked at his works. I can only hope that I can follow in his footsteps with brush in hand.
ReplyDeletebarbara greene mann
Shriram, as you said We have lost a great painter, An adviser, A mentor, And a very honest and humble human being. Behalf of "The Bombay Art Society" i salute him. If you don't mind, i would like to share this article on Facebook.... Can I..?
ReplyDeleteHe is a big loss for me in our industry. From his great masterpieces, I think we must all give him an art describing him so that he will still remain in out heart and art.
ReplyDeletePosted by Kym on linkedin Group: Fine Art Professionals Exchange.