A celebration of Vaikuntam’s art

The State Gallery of Art wore a festive look on Saturday as art lovers turned up in hordes to attend a retrospective painting exhibition of Thota Vaikuntam titled, ‘Bhaavatharangam’. Featuring dark, sombre and smaller canvases to bigger, brighter and colourful works spread across two expansive halls, the exhibition reflected how Vaikuntam’s art evolved over the last four decades.“What you see on the canvas is Vaikuntam’s life journey. He has only turned into a more lively and vibrant person over the years,” observed Mumbai-based art collector Manvinder Dawar, who worked for the last four years, meeting different collectors at various galleries across the country to source these canvases and curate the show. While the oldest art on display dates back to 1980s, the most recent canvas of 2017, is a departure from his ‘Telangana women’ repertoire — a Ganpati painting.