Paresh Maity
Art should always give you happiness and convey the glory of life. That is the fundamental point of any art, says Maity. Maity spends hardly two three months of the year in the capital at his studio, the rest of the time travelling like a wanderer, with his fine refined eye and then responds with something quite mystic and impulsively sophisticated. Maity’s imagination flows without stoppage. This can be seen in his art. He doesn’t like to stick to one medium for long and doesn’t have a single favourite medium of art. His early life in rural Bengal has strongly influenced his imagination towards nature. “There is no end or beginning in my works, just people and thoughts moving, sometimes merging into each other and sometimes spinning together,” says Maity.
Maity is an enthusiastic student of his trade. Maity has explored all mediums including photography and filmmaking. Maity has also demonstrated his mastery of the craft in different styles. There is more variety in 10 years of his work than in the lifespan of most other artists.
Maity’s influences from among the greats are the Western masters such as Rembrandt, Turner, Constable, and Winslow Homer to name a few. Seeing their works sparked in him the desire to be like them; he wanted to be known as a hardworking artist. He then travelled all over India, and anywhere he went, he painted but felt that his understanding of the place was never complete. During the 90s, Figures of men and women, animals and birds became part of his paintings, which usually was watercolour.
Maity shunned the harsh side of life. His paintings are warm, relaxing and about happiness. Maity is an instinctive master of watercolour but It is hard to classify his work within any particular tradition of watercolour painting. He has progressed from being early realist to moody expressionistic.
Maity has also brought off a real coup. He has created the biggest painting of his life and probably the longest in India. It stretches up to over 850 feet and is surely one of the most monumental paintings in the world. The first painting, titled The Indian Odyssey, measuring 7 by 800 feet, consists of 53 panels, while the second work, called Celebration, sized 6 feet 2 inches by 62 feet is made up of five panels. In all, one sees 58 panels spanning a little less than 900 feet. The entire piece, undoubtedly the vastest public art in India, now adorn the spanking New Delhi International Airport’s 3rd terminal.
Maity has been honoured with many awards in his career so far.
Awards
- Padma Shri, Government of India, 2014
- Gold Medal, USSR, 1983
- Indian Society of Oriental Art, Kolkata, 1985
- Award, Government of West Bengal for Best Water Colour Painting Award, 1985
- Award, Indian Society of Oriental Art, Kolkata, 1986
- Jamini Roy Birth Centenary Celebration Award, 1987
- Governor’s Gold Medal from Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata, 1988
- Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Celebration Award, 1988
- National Scholarship Award, Government of India, 1989
- All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society Award for Best Watercolour Painting, New Delhi, 1990
- Award for Outstanding Painting, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata, 1990
- All India Fine Arts and Craft Society Award for 62nd All India Art Exhibition, 1990
- Pt. Ravishankar Award from College of Art, New Delhi, 1992
- British Council Visitorship, 1993
- Harmony Award, Mumbai, 1999
- Royal Watercolour Society, London, 2002
- Indo-American Society, 2005
- Dayawati Modi Award for Art, Culture and Education, 2012
- ABP’s Sera Bengali Award, Kolkata, 2013
- Hall of Fame by Hello (Times of India Group)
- Cartier Award, St. Moritz Switzerland Art Masters, 2014
- Eastern Eye Editor’s Special Award for contribution in field of art in Royal Festival Hall, London, 2016
- Award from Bihar Government, 2017
Paresh Maity has done 81 Solo Exhibitions worldwide2019 : Hong Kong Visual Art Centre, presented by Gallery Sumukha
2017 : Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, presented by Art Musings
2017 : Forty Years of Watercolour, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi, presented by Art Alive Gallery
2017 : Lalit Kala Academy, Chennai presented by Gallery Sumukha
2017 : Art Stage Singapore, presented by Gallery Sumukha, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
2016 : ‘Beyond Horizons’, Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore
2016 : Art 16 presented by Gallery Sumukha, Olympia, London
Art Stage Singapore, presented by Sanchit Art, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
2015 : CIMA Gallery, Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata
Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, presented by Art Alive Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Art 15 presented by Gallery Sumukha, Olympia, London
Art Stage Singapore, presented by Gallery Sumukha, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
2014 : The Arts House, presented by Gallery Sumukha, Singapore
Art Stage Singapore, presented by Gallery Sumukha, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
Art 14, presented by Gallery Sumukha, Olympia, London
2013 : Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, in collaboration with Art Musings
Art 13, London Olympia, Singapore presented by Gallery Sumukha
Visual Arts Gallery, presented by Gallery Sumukha, Hong Kong
2012 : ‘Eternal Landscape’, joint show with Ram Kumar at ICIA, Mumbai
Solo Exhibition Chennai presented by Gallery Sumukha as a part of Chennai Art Festival
The Arts House, presented by Gallery Sumukha, Singapore
Art Stage Singapore, presented by Gallery Sumukha, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
‘Kolkata Taj Bengal’, presented by Jaguar Land Rover with Gallery Sanskriti, Kolkata
2011 : Chivas Studio, New Delhi and Mumbai; Gallery Sumukha in association with
Wei-Ling Contemporary, Malaysia in Bangalore & Kuala Lumpur
2011 : Art Stage Singapore, presented by Gallery Sumukha, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
‘Shesh Lekha’, Poems by Rabindranath Tagore translated into English by Pritish Nandy
interpreted by Paresh Maity, NGMA, New Delhi, Mumbai, supported by Art Alive Gallery,
New Delhi ‘Shesh Lekha’, Tao Gallery, Mumbai and CIMA Gallery, Kolkata
2010 : Joint show with Steve McCurry, Chicago, Tourism Centre in association with Art Alive Gallery.
Group show, Shizaru Art Gallery, London
‘The World on a Canvas’, Art Alive Gallery, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
2009 : Montage, Moments & Memories, Art Musings, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
2008 : Gallery Sumukha, Chennai
An Enchanting Journey, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi
2007 : CIMA Gallery, Kolkata
2006 : Aicon Gallery, Palo Alto, USA
Visual Arts Gallery, presented by Gallery Sumukha, Hong Kong
2005 : Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, in collaboration with Art Musings
Arts India, New York. Gallery in Cork Street, London, in association with ICICI Bank
2004: Alliance Francaise, Singapore, presented by Gallery Sumukha with Easel, Singapore.
CIMA Art Gallery, Kolkata
2003 : ‘Shapes in Symphony’, Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi
2002 : Arts India, New York; Venetian Odyssey, British Council, New Delhi
Tagore Centre, Berlin, Germany
2001 : ‘Venetian Odyssey’, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; British Council, New Delhi
Philip Gallery, London
2000 : CIMA Art Gallery, Kolkata; Gallerie Aspekte, Germany
‘Venetian Odyssey’, Hotel Aryanbika, Debrecen, Hungar; Gallerie Mohanjeet, Paris
1999 : Two Decades of Classic Watercolours, Shridharani, Triveni Kala Sangam,
Gallerie Ganesha, and British Council, New Delhi; Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore
1998 : Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai
1997 : CIMA Gallery, Kolkata; Aquarell International, Thun, Switzerland
1996 : Shridharani Gallery, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi;
Hungarian Information and Cultural Centre, New Delhi
Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi; ARKS Gallery, London
Paracelsus Rotenfleskdinik Ausgestelt, in association with Galerie Aspekte, Germany
1995 : Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai
1994 : British Council, Kolkata; Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi; The Gallery, Chennai
Galerie Aspekte, German; Shridharani Gallery, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi
1993 : Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi; All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society, New Delhi
1992 : Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi; Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata
Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai; Siddhartha Art Gallery, Kathmandu; Windsor Manor, Bangalore
1991 : Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi; Gallery Katayun, Kolkata; Sophia Duchesne Art Gallery, Mumbai
1990 : Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi; Gallery Katayun, Kolkata
1989 : Gallery Katayun, Kolkata
1988 : Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata
1986 : Good Companions, Kolkata
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