Why Vivid Impressions, a solo exhibition by MR Deshmukh from Kolhapur, is a must-catch for art lovers in Bengaluru

Vivid Impressions, a solo exhibition by MR Deshmukh, an artist from Kolhapur is a must-catch for art lovers

It is challenging to write about a reticent soul and a modest one at that. “I don’t think there is anything special in what I have done; there are far greater artists than me,” says MR Deshmukh.

“Besides, I feel my paintings convey whatever I want to say. Painting is a language in which form and colour speak to viewers. There is not much I can add to that.”

And yes, that is true; Deshmukh’s body of work speaks for itself. At 80, the artist from Kolhapur, is exhibiting as many as 30 of his works in Bengaluru — almost all of which were executed over the past two years, an impressive feat in itself.

Vibrant, yet muted, patches of colour bring to mind once-remembered memories or scenes from long-forgotten travels. Vivid Impressions hosts both landscapes and figures in its collection. While some of the landscapes show glimpses of India as seen from a railway carriage, some are of quiet avenues, perhaps as seen by someone sitting in a café leisurely watching the world go by.

Still others are of women captured in various everyday scenes — sewing, at rest, with an infant, toiling in the fields, catching up with each other, balancing a load on their heads — the quintessential Indian woman. Most fascinating of all, at least for me, were the canvases with little birds on or outside a window sill, the kind you see in dreams of childhood where the grass is a bright green and the wide open skies are full of sunshine.

Inspired by beauty, whether in Nature or of the feminine, Deshmukh’s artistic journey began in Satara, Maharashtra, his birthplace. “I spent my schooldays wandering between the Krishna and Koyna rivers, and later came to Kolhapur for my college education. Memories of the natural beauty I revelled in during those days are reflected in my work to a great extent.”

Deshmukh says while Nature inspires everyone, he was also blessed to be influenced by the treasures housed in the Shri Bhavani Museum in Satara, which he often frequented. The museum founded in 1938 by Shri Bhawanrao Pantapratinidhi, the last ruler of Aundh, has a wonderful collection of Indian and Western masters, which left a deep impression on the artist as a young man.