AN INDIAN ALBUM
Exhibition of oil Paintings by Sarbani Sen at La Galleria Pall Mall,
London from Nov 30 - Dec 6, ‘11
Indian artist Sarbani Sen is back for her 5th solo exhibition in London
Sarbani’s work is about nature and man’s relationship with his environment. A compulsive
traveller, a brilliant scholar, an ardent nature lover, that she has the stance of a romantic there
is no doubt. She blends classic romanticism
with
mathematical
precision
to
create a perfect balance of beauty
and tranquility.
Landscape for her is a subjective
reality, an atonement, where the
beholder and beholden become
one. Nothing is allowed to intrude in
this space, not even the artist’s own
presence.
The desert paintings are a somewhat different story. The unyielding near empty land, the
relentless sun, the harsh wind, the figures as if seen through upward moving hot air, sometimes
bordering on surrealism – here the story is of
struggle and compromise of life and
living with and against nature. A
recurrent theme of water pots run
through the canvasses. To the artist
each woman carrying a pot of water
to her desert home is Laxmi,
Goddess of Grace bringing home the
elixir of everlasting life.
About the Artist
Sarbani has always had a great urge to explore the unknown, to go beyond the horizon, beyond
the next mountain range, to see outside a closed gate and inside the covers of an unread
volume
Along with her curriculum in the university, she had read extensively on art and gained an in-
depth knowledge of classical and contemporary art in India, Europe and Japan. So, when she
gave up a career in mathematics and started
sketching
and
painting
whole
heartedly she was armed with an
intensive
knowledge
of
the
theoretical side of painting and her
mind was completely in tune with
the sights and sounds around her.
From 1974 she started painting seriously, her
subject remaining nature and man’s relationship with nature. In early eighties, in Bombay, she
came under the guidance of late Prof. N. S. Bendre of J.J.School of Arts, Mumbai,
one of the great painters in India.
From him she learnt the value of
following her own instincts over
being academic. She said of these
years to Economic Times, “… I have
spent more time with canvases that
I imagined I would be painting than
doing the actual painting. My mind
has sped, leaving the brush to plod
behind. Vision and imagery crowded
my eyes but they eluded the hand…
”. While her vision is definitely that
of a romantic, nothing diluted the
rigours of intellectual scrutiny.
Her work varies from realistic to stylised semi abstraction.
Sarbani started to show her paintings in exhibitions from 1981. She has had twenty five solo
exhibitions of her paintings in galleries in Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta and London, including three
in “The Gallery At Cork Street” London.
Sarbani’s paintings were selected for two consecutive years as the first painting for the TATA
Art calendar (2000 and 2001
What the critics say:
Artists & Illustrators, London – put Sarbani’s painting on their
cover and did a feature on her on their centre spread in their
August ’95 issue. Their art critic Karen Taylor, who
interviewed Sarbani, says ‘ …Her compositions are completely
uncontrived, imported as they stand direct from nature. She
doesn’t analyse her choice of subjects; she simply responds
to a scene’s natural beauty and the spontaneous urge to
capture it on the canvas… a measure of her success is
‘mustard in bloom’ about which she is typically modest. The
painting is simple to the point of abstraction, yet the scene is
instantly recognisable. The colours of this painting are indeed
stunning, as they are in nearly all Sarbani Sen’s work’. … One
conscious tenet she has taken from Hinduism is a firm belief in reincarnation. Expecting to
return to other lives, Sarbani strides steadily towards her artistic ambition, ‘ to reach a stage
where I feel I have arrived’
R.T.Shahani in ‘The Afternoon’ Mumbai, wrote ‘…Sarbani
Sen’s oils on canvas are brilliant for their contents as well
as her love for nature revealed through them… An art we
can sit back and enjoy, an art of purity and balance,
which is reminiscent of the master artists of nature like
Constable and Turner of England.
Kiran Sheikh in The Asian Age, Mumbai wrote Sarbani’s
works are a refuge from urban squalor …the jagged
mountain with its pine covered slopes are the painters
statements about her strong feelings about the
denudation of the himalayas
Dnyaneshwar Nadkarni, the well-known art critic, wrote
in the Pioneer. Mumbai ‘… Sarbani Sen is one of our most
distinguished nature painters. …She comes riding on the
glory of very successful exhibitions held at ‘The Gallery in
Cork Street, London. ..Sarbani’s success is well deserved.
For, she has consistently shown in her canvases,
environment in the context of nature
Some Collectors
Sarbani's paintings are in the collection of many art lovers in India, UK, USA, Canada, Australia Switzerland, South
Africa, Singapore, Philippines, UAE, and many other countries worldwide.
Shri Pranab Mukerji, Finance Minister of India
Mr. John Eddy, Consul General of USA in Mumbai
Chairman Export Import Bank of India
Chairman , Oriental Bank Of Commerce
Chairman Thermax Ltd.
Dr. K. Anji Reddy , Chairman Dr. Reddy's Laboratories
Dr. J. J. Bhaba , Director Tata Sons
National Centre for Performing Arts , Mumbai
Taj Group of Hotels,
Mr. Ashok Kumar, Chairman, Hermes Group, Mumbai
Managing Director, Tata Electric Companies Limited
Managing Director Tata Press
Managing Director Tata Power Limited
Managing Director Gujarat Ambuja Private Limited
Managing Director Mphasis
Managing Director Tractors India
Chairman Cable Corporation of India Private Limited
Director, Industrial Development Bank of India
Managing Director Shell Group of Companies India
Mr. Anil Kumble, Test Captain for India
Country Head, Ferrostaal Ltd. India
Ms Al Naquib, Sharjah
Mrs. Diana Wilson
Mr. Frank Dorian , Singapore
Ahmed Buhari, Founder President C & O Group, Dubai
Mrs. Megan Sen, Singapore
Mr. Hemant Singh, Canada
Mrs. Suchismita Sen, USA
Mrs. Farida Grewal, Mumbai
Mr.P.A. Leggat, MBE, Chairman Lawrie Plantations , London
Mr. Tony Bates VP, EMI records International London
Mr. Mike Mulrooney, Managing Director Nautilus Shipping, London
Mr. M.J. Fraser MD Turbine Blading Group, UK
Mr. Tom Novak, Managing Director Prator Limited, Prague
Mr. Tom Dreessen President Energy Performance Services, Philadelphia
Mr. Igor Sitnin, Bank of America
Mr. Gregg Ullman, Chadbourne Park Inc. USA
Mr. Jack Treier , B& W USA, Chicago, USA
Mr. Mustaq Pirani, Piramco Inc. North Vancouver, BC, Canada
Mrs. Mina Noah London
Mr. Donald Macadam, Ontario, Canada
Mr. P.C.M. Holmes, Victoria, Canada
Mr. R. Gheewalla, London
Ms Rina Rabou, Netherlands
Mr. Douglas O'brien, London
Mr. John Tyson, London
Ms. Janine F Barnes, Victoria, Australia
Mr. Sewak Dansinghani, London
Mr. Shivan Sundaram, USA
Ms. Nancy Morris, New York
Nov/Dec, 11
Jan, 10
Mar, 07
Feb, 07
Mar, 05
Mar, 04
Jan , 04
Dec, 01
Dec, 00
Mar , 99
Feb '99
Jan , 97
Jun, 96
Apr, 95
Jan, 95
Jan, 93
Sept, 91
Dec, 89
Feb, 88
Nov, 86
May, 84
Jan, 83
" Eyes you have seen all......
Come back now,
Come back to white
Chrysanthemum! "
Issa
List of solo exhibitions
La Galleria Pall Mall, London
Museum Gallery, Mumbai
The Gallery in Cork Street, London
Nehru Centre, Mumbai
Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
Nehru Centre, Mumbai
Taj Art Gallery, Mumbai
Taj Art Gallery, Mumbai
Taj Art Gallery, Mumbai
Edith Grove Gallery, London
Taj Art Gallery, Mumbai
Taj Art Gallery, Mumbai
The Gallery in Cork Street, London
The Gallery in Cork Street, London
Taj Art Gallery, Mumbai
Taj Art Gallery, Mumbai
Taj Art Gallery, Mumbai
Taj Art Gallery, Mumbai
Taj Art Gallery, Mumbai
Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
Exhibition :
Nov 30 to Dec 6, 2011
10.30am to 7.00pm
La Galleria Pall Mall,
Royal Opera Arcade,
London. SW1Y 4UY
Artist’s contact :
E-mail : pksen_connie@hotmail.com
Website : www.artindia-sarbanisen.com
Tel : +91 9423012947, +91 9790930930