Through the Orient: Paresh Maity’s China Highlights the Artist’s Masterful Watercolours

Stellar International Art Foundation opened a presentation of works from Paresh Maity’s series on China, painted over a 2005 visit to the country. All twenty art pieces of this series belong to the private collection of Sudhir and Anita Choudhrie, based in Delhi and London. Held at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, this vernissage displayed ten from Maity’s series that had never before been on view to the public. The event was graced by the artist himself along with his wife Jayasri Burman.

The watercolours are a-typical of comparative shows currently on display in Delhi which feature predominantly his large-scale oils.

Rather, this exhibition shows his mid-career preference for watercolour. In this instance,  the technique of the artist is still delicate and entirely based on his exploration of light and atmosphere. The colours – yellow, red, blue – depict less the actual colour spectrum of the scene, but rather the time of day and the feeling of light passing over the various landscapes.

In this series Maity also adopts a minimalism appropriate to Sino-aesthetics, as well as elements of calligraphy and line-work for which the country’s artwork is also famous.

But of course, Maity never resists fusing the work with bold primary colours from his homeland.

A video of the artist’s first show with Stellar International Art Foundation was also shown as an introduction to the artist’s relationship both to the Choudhrie family personally as well as to the Foundation.

Guests included private and corporate collectors, distinguished guests of the Four Points by Sheraton group and members of the local Gurgaon community.

Stellar International Art Foundation:

Stellar International Art Foundation was established in 2008. Currently the Foundation comprises over 600 works by an array of Indian and Western Contemporary artists ranging from painting to sculpture. The collection began in the 1970s when the Choudhrie family began to purchase works of art. This led to intimate relationships with some of India’s most important contemporary artists including M F Husain, Paresh Maity and Jayasri Burman. At the point the Foundation was created, the collection changed direction to focus on Western and American Contemporary Art, selecting important works by the most important contemporary artists working today. The Foundation seeks to promote artists within the collection through international exhibition, loans, publications and events