A journey through Indian art

Surbhi Gupta / TNN / Sep 11, 2007, 00:00 IST

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In town for an exhibition, Mumbai-based artist Pratima Sheth talks to AT about art, its dictionary and more

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Pratima Sheth with her paintings. (TOI Photo)In town for an exhibition, Mumbai-based artist Pratima Sheth talks to AT about art, its dictionary and more
“Ahmedabad is like my home-town,” begins Mumbai-based artist Pratima Sheth, as she leads you for a dekko at her drawings and paintings displayed in a city gallery. Her drawings are lucid, while her semi-abstract landscape paintings in oil capture attention.
Even as most of us go through the customary dilemma of choosing an appropriate career for life, Pratima says she never had any doubts. “I immersed myself into art when I was three years old.
I had staunch support in the form of my father, who would even ask people to get me colours from abroad.” Soon, she enrolled in the JJ School of Arts. “Those five years in JJ really opened my world and gave me a lot of exposure,” says Pratima, who tied the knot with her businessman husband while still in college.

She takes the opportunity to add, “My in-laws were very supportive of my art, which is why I could carry on with it. I strongly feel that women should pursue a career, and the key to success here is time management.”
As she travelled abroad with her husband often, she even studied art in many European countries. “The subjects were same, but in those universities the emphasis was more on language and history,” she adds.
It was on one such visit that she came to be gifted a dictionary of European art, which set her thinking. After rigorous research and data collection for ten years, Pratima launched a dictionary on Indian art and artists in 2006.
“There was no compilation of the evolution and context of Indian art and people could not recognise beyond 10-15 artists. This dictionary, which will also see a second part, includes close to 650 Indian artists.”
Ask her why prices of paintings are soaring and she replies, “Artists are not becoming commercial, art is. That’s because there are more collectors now. Also, considering everything has become expensive over the years, why not art?”

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