COCONUT BRUSH ART GALLERY

A REFRESHING RETRO

THE monsoons provide a fine period for artists, for inspiration, with the refreshing cool weather spreading out plenty of greenery all around. Moreover, being confined indoors with the incessant showers, artists have a golden opportunity to indulge in painting. So most of the better Goan artists appeared to have remained indoors. There was hardly any worthwhile exhibition of art and paintings in Goa during the dull period (what monsoons mean to many of non-artist, lay folk.) Whether any artist agrees with this view or not is another question because an artist's mind is never a devil's workshop but a creative cauldron of ideas and colours.

Breaking out from the monsoon spell was Xantaram Amonkar, with his exhibition of beautiful paintings--Retrospective 1945-65--at the Kala Academy Art Gallery. Inaugurated by Speaker and chairman of the Kala Academy Pratapsingh Rane on September 15, the exhibition of Amonkar's arresting work remained open until September 20.

Few know about Xantaram Vasudev Amonkar, who was born on August 29, 1923, at Bhoma village in Ponda. He did his government diploma in art (painting) in Bombay in 1949, followed by art Master (painting) in 1951. Subsequently, he pursued Lyceum (art) in Portuguese.

All that we know about this genius, is that has been involved in inspiring other artists and setting up art exhibitions of others painters in 1955, 1962 and 1971 as a member of various cultural and educations institutions. As a member of the Acquisition Committee of Art Works, Amonkar helped reorganise the Indian Sewction of the Art Museum at Institute Menezes Braganza. He was also among the organizers of 'Goan in India Exhibition' at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai in 1953.

"Restrospective 1945-65" was Amonkar's first exhibition. Definitely it was one of the best that we have witnessed in Goa lately. The 44 aesthetic paintings on show covered a significant distance of nearly 20 years, from his student days till today. He begins with the art of those days, which revelled in realistic and figurative styles without much of abstraction, as he claims. The calibre of Amonkar's brush strokes being commendable, the response from art lovers was quite encouraging. We now await the exhibition of his paintings done during period since 1966.

Rajan Fulari
Curator.