There is much to look forward to in the upcoming three-day Ahmedabad International Arts Festival (AIAF) and among the variety of events happening is a captivating show of a vast collection of Indian portraits through the centuries.
There is much to look forward to in the upcoming three-day Ahmedabad International Arts Festival (AIAF) and among the variety of events happening is a captivating show of a vast collection of Indian portraits through the centuries.
The exhibition called 'Miniature to Modern' has been curated by Tanuja and Anil Relia from their personal collection, painstakingly gathered and meticulously profiled for more than three decades.
Significantly, this is the first time an exhibition bringing together such a diverse range of portraits from different era is being held. Around 30 portraits, the oldest dating from 1688 and as early as 2002 are being showcased. These represent less than 10% of Relia's personal collection of over 350 portraits.
"Lots of these portraits are being shown in the public for the first time. Some have been displayed by respective artists in their time," says Manan, son of Anil Relia.
While Manan's personal collection encompasses all kinds of sitters, this exhibition mainly consists of paintings of known people and documented portraits, but there are some anonymous sitters too. These images reveal the history of the period as well as the histories of the individuals they depict.
"Each portrait is a part of history, it tells several stories, about that person, their life, their clothing, their society and even that period. When I look at any portrait, I feel like I have taken a trip back in time to that period and start to see their lifestyle back then," Anil Relia says.
He has several interesting stories to tell of how he came to acquire each of them. "The first paintings I acquired in 1978 in Ahmedabad were that of maharajas from an 82-year-old painter. They were commissioned by the respective Vazirs before Independence, but were not collected later. I once found a 150-year-old painting from a scrap dealer," Relia recounts.
And finding the painting is just half the job done, the real work starts then, to research the painter, the sitter, when, who, why, how — the answers to these questions are found.
And thus comes to us this exhibition 'The Indian Portrait - an artistic journey from miniature to modern'.
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