Great injustice to Varanasi


There is Venice- thousands of artists flock to it as eager as lemmings dying to jump off a cliff - and I don't blame them. For a painter like myself it is heaven on earth- all that water, the shimmering reflections, the wonderfully painted but quaint houses, that sunlight.....mmm, delicious. I can think of several painters who have reveled in that ambiance and produced wonderful art-From Canaletto to David Curtis and Jonathan Pike.
And then there is Varanasi. I am not a far-ranging , all-knowing expert of Indian art - far, far from it - But having visited hundreds of exhibitions I cannot recall any work on Varanasi that left an impression with the exceptions of some works by Kashi Das ( who I can't find on the net ). I must have seen them but I just cannot recall. So while I am inclined to blame myself , I believe that Indian artists have also done a grave injustice to such a 'painterly' place like Varanasi. Here is a contemporary example - The Varanasi paintings of Manu Parekh. I am tempted to say that taking Mr. Parekh to Varanasi is like giving a typewriter to a monkey - and then expecting it to produce a masterpiece.

Comments

:: said…
My dad recently bought a watercolour by Kashi Nath Das (i presume, it is the same artist you mention in this post) on Varansi. He is simply amazing and i can't find him online either, he does have a website though its not updated regularly or contain much of his art. If you want, I could email you a picture of the painting on Varanasi. Do let me know.
Gurmeet said…
ein brummkreisel(what a name!),

go ahead and send me the image .I shall post it if I like it. In fact, I am thinking about doing a post on Kashi Das. What is the address of his site?
:: said…
http://www.kashinathdas.com/

ill send it to you tomorrow morning..

ein brummkreisel (my name is radhika!)

:)

p.s.- your artwork is amazing !!!
Gurmeet said…
ein brummkreisel urf radhika,

Thanks for the nice words.

Still waiting for that image.....

gurmeet
:: said…
sorry for the late reply.. left home for university and was too stressed during the packing to send the pic.. will send it once my dad forwards it to me :)