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Taru Bahl

Delhi-based art connoisseur Sunaina Anand combines research and business to document the life and work of talented, but relatively unknown artists.

Delhi-based curator, gallery owner, commercial artist and art consultant Sunaina Anand is busy sensitising foreign buyers to the finer aspects of Indian art. She revels in the fact that the Indian art scene is finally acquiring a more global `feel' both in terms of monetary and critical accomplishment.

As gallery owner she is involved in identifying the right artists, putting up retrospective shows and reaching out to discerning buyers. But it is in her role as documenter that she is truly gaining a better understanding of the medium. Combining academic research and documentation with commercial and aesthetic interests, she has strengthened the resource bank on some of India's talented, but relatively unknown artists.

The `Master Artist Series', a project close to her heart, will display the entire body of work of select veteran artists. Alongside each artist's show, she will release a coffee-table book on the artist that outlines the highs and lows of his or her life, and the flashes of insight that inspired their work at different points of time. These would be interspersed with photographs, anecdotes, quotes and reflections.

Hardbound and glossy, the book is designed to take pride of place in any art connoisseur's home or office, with the content aimed at the serious reader.

For the first project in the series, Sunaina talked to well-known artist T. Vaikuntham and was surprised to find him both naïve and shy, as he had never really spoken about himself before, least of all on record or for public consumption! "That is when I realised that as a curator and art gallery owner, I owed it to my profession to leave a tangible and meaningful imprint, something that went beyond mere visual appeal and had staying power," she says.

The retrospective exhibition featured more than hundred of his works, and also marked the launch of the book, Thota Vaikuntam — The Man and His Women. His works featuring the dusky and beautiful Telangana women are much sought after by connoisseurs, as are his "greedy" pundits and other village folk. Besides being a painter, Vaikuntam has worked on film-set designs and with children. All these details were reflected in the coffee-table book.

"Normally the visitor or art lover has only sketchy information about the artist. Through the book you get a more varied insight. Not only is interest aroused and awareness increased, but art per se acquires a new dimension, which cannot be quantified solely by the price the piece commands," says Sunaina.

She had earlier worked as a freelance commercial artist for advertising agencies and greeting card companies. It was her interest in art that went beyond the mundane, that inspired her to set up a gallery five years ago. Sunaina is involved in every stage of the book's production — from giving directions to researchers on the background work to commissioning experts in the field. For her, it is a part of the learning process. Vaikuntam's book has researched articles and interviews by curator-editor Sushma Bahl, scholar and art collector Jagdish Mittal, art critic and curator Anil Kumar, artist and film-maker Narasimha Rao, and art historian and writer Dr Alka Pande.

The gallery has also brought out a book on the eminent sculptor K.S. Radhakrishnan. With an insightful text by art historian R. Siva Kumar, the book features photographs by famous names such as Prabuddha Das Gupta, Pradeep Das Gupta and Anne Garde. It is the first fully illustrated book on a contemporary Indian sculptor and features Radhakrishnan's work in the last 20 years. Sunaina's Art Alive Gallery has indeed come a long way from its first show of affordable reproductions of the Great Masters. Today, it works with over hundred senior and young artists from different parts of India. It also organises one-person shows, large group shows and collaborative shows with fully illustrated catalogues and creative workshops.

Sunaina is curator and art consultant to many corporates, including five-star hotels. She recently commissioned a 7 ft by 22 ft abstract painting by Nupur Kundu for the upcoming Taj hotel in Chandigarh. Her clientele includes leading art collectors in the US, UK, Europe, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

Each work from Art Alive comes with a certificate of authenticity and a numbered hologram. Sunaina sees a lot of scope for Indian art in the global arena. In coming years, the gallery will target non-Indian collectors through shows and coverage in international art magazines.

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