a visit to Nasik
a friend and i decided to participate in a state-level painting competition at Nasik, about four hours away from Pune. it’s a sizeable town, with lots of old, scenic alleyways and fresh, cool weather. the highlight of our visit, however was our trip to the College of Fine Arts there. admittedly, it’s a very small college, but i found the staff and faculty to be very helpful and appreciative. it’s probably one of the few last colleges where they put a lot emphasis on academic study of realism, and their gallery was testament to a rich tradition of academic study, including works of notable artists like S.M. Pandit, Palshikar, Deuskar and Gurjar.
i was surprised to know that the college was well over 50 years old.
we also had interaction sessions with the college faculty, more specifically, with professors Anil Abhange and Sanjay Sabale. Both were kind enough to spare time for a good discussion about work, the market, and issues about art education in general.
students interacting with Mr. Sanjay Sabale (center)
we were also lucky enough to be able to visit the studio of Mr. Anil Abhange. he was kind enough to show us his student work, and i must say it was a very inspiring experience for all of us. we got a rare opportunity to see many of his earlier works, as well as various sketches and studies, something you won’t get to see at a gallery. he spoke to us about his way of working, the various themes he worked on, and his philosophy as an art teacher. he also described his visit to a coal mine, and how he stayed at the mine and made studies of the miners, observing everything and making notes, to use the same for his upcoming series. certainly a lot of dedication goes into his work.
Mr Anil Abhange (right) displaying his works
we spent a good many hours at the studio discussing a great range of topics. it was heartening to hear Mr. Abhange reminisce his student days and speak of his fledgling years at Sangli and Raheja, and of course, of the impoverished circumstances that he, and a great number of artists of his generation, had to go through.
without getting too sentimental about it, i must say that compared to artists of yesterday, the great majority of art students today have it easy. i’m not the one to scream for ‘suffering for art’s sake’ but i do believe that the sensitivity of being an artist comes from recognizing the face of toil and upholding the value of hard work. it’s a stance that’s very clearly missing in today’s art world, something undermined all too easily by shim-sham sensationalism. or maybe i’m just being too old fashioned. let’s see *hand on chin*.
all in all, our trip was very educational indeed. it’s a sad thing that the college there isn’t getting the focus or assistance it so dearly deserves. i would certainly like to see more being done for the Fine Arts College there.
NEXT UP: away for a week to attend an NSS (National Service Scheme) camp at a nearby village, so the next update will contain the same, plus a detailed overview of my Bhopal trip.
