4-year-old artist Shorya Mahanot: Young at art

He’s no different from a regular, naughty four-year-old kid. But one look at his canvases and you know that there’s more to the persona of Shorya Mahanot, from Madhya Pradesh. One of the youngest artists in India to do abstract art, 24 of Shorya’s paintings were recently showcased at a city hotel. And those who watched him paint were left speechless. To get him to paint before a crowd, his dad Aditya Singh Mahanot had to lure him with a toy car.

“He’s very naughty and it’s very difficult to get him to sit at one place. He refused to go to the event until I promised to get him a toy car!” laughs the proud father. Aditya recalls his boy’s artistic journey, “About nine months back, Shorya was helping my wife on a collage she was making at home. Shorya just picked up the brush and made an abstract work. We decided to get him paints and canvases, and he’s made over 100 acrylic paintings till date.

He’s very passionate about colours. His brushwork has depth and there’s beautiful usage of colours. When he paints, he does it on his own, at his own will and pace. He’ll paint for a while, take a break, come back again to his canvas…” His paintings were put up on Facebook and were appreaciated and that’s when Shorya’s parents decided to take his talent seriously.

Aditya admits that he himself pursued art as a hobby, but hasn’t really been able to devote time to it in the last 10 years or so. “When I appraoached the Taj hotel, they immediately agreed to give me space for a show. We’re very privileged to have got the same stage where US President Barrack Obama had delivered his speech during his visit to India. Shorya is still very small, and I feel if he goes to an art college, he’ll become a better artist. We just want to give him that exposure.”

Aditya also plans to donate and the money from each of Shorya’s paintings, when sold, would go to various NGO. He reveals, “We’re trying to instill good habits in him. We’ve given him a piggy bank where he puts money from my wallet or trouser pockets every day.”