K S Kulkarni: A Separate Reality

In 1953, I came across the studio of K.S. Kulkarni while looking for an artist to write captions on a photograph.

Meeting Kulkarni turned out to be a fateful event for me. He was the first modern artist I met. He saw, a new world of art— where open minded creative people sacrificed commercial interest to express their vision and ideas breaking away from traditional India. I learnt, however, that most of these artists, whose art was their passion and life, were facing hardship due to the lack of patronage of art in India. Where in the West private art galleries provided regular support and contracts to artists, there was not a single such gallery in India at the time. Public institutions were not geared for providing the needed support either.

Having learnt of these dire times for the artists, and myself appreciating the value of the art, I decided to enter this adventurous field despite the financial commitment. In October 1955, I established Kumar Gallery, with the sole purpose of projecting the work of contemporary artists. The Gallery offered, irrespective of sale, monthly remuneration to several artists, artists who are recognized as the leading artists of the country today. Kulkarni was among the first of the artists to have his solo shoes with the Gallery. This show was in subsequent years followed by several shows and retrospectives of his art. His largest retrospective was held in 1969 at the Gallery.

Too many to count are the memorable moments I have spent with Kulkarni, witnessing his work first hand. He is well known for his contribution to the cause of artists, art education, art institutions, and art galleries. I am grateful to this day for the insightful dialogues we had over the years on such issues.

In an attempt to show how great a man he truly was, I have chosen to include an article by Baldeo Sahai. For reflection on his art I found it most appropriate to include articles by the eminent art historians and critics — A.S. Raman, Keshav Malik, Santo Datta and J. Swaminathan (an eminent artist himself). Presented also are some of the important works of Kulkarni in various mediums. From what I have witnessed of Indian contemporary art in the past five decades, I can say that Kulkarni’s approach is quite a separate reality and unique in itself.

- Virendra Kumar Jain (Nov. 01 2006)