‘To grow, ART needs to be seen’

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India has not seen another woman artist like Anjolie Ela Menon most probably since Amrita Sher-Gil and like all great artists, Anjolie too feels that the more art is seen and appreciated by people, the better it becomes.
The 73-year-old feels that it is the same reason why many artists can’t break into the global market.

“Be it China, America or art from any other country, their biggest supporters are always their own people. If we want to promote Indian art then it needs to be displayed at museums and public collections. So much of my earlier art was bought by American buyers and I don’t even know where it went. How does it help the cause when art is just disappearing in people’s private collections? I would personally want my paintings to be part of a public collection viewed by half a million people,” she says.
Her belief is supported by the fact that her murals are installed in public places like the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi; the Esplanade Metro Station, Kolkata; Mumbai International Airport, etc.
Anjolie credits M.F. Husain as the one personality who had great impact on her art. Her first solo exhibition was at the age of 18 and it was organised by the great artist. “Husian was a great friend and a mentor though he was much older to me. He organised my first two exhibitions, designed the invites and even hung up the paintings,” she says.
As she talks of Husain, it becomes obvious how much she looked up to him. “Husain taught me that as long you have a bag of paints and a canvas, you can just sit on the floor and start painting anywhere. There’s no need for the whole tamasha of wanting a studio or lights... though I need it now as I am older. But I can do without it, Husain taught me that.”
Describing Husain as a “nomad”, Anjolie adds, “He was a free soul and that was one of the things I envied about him. After he accepted the Qatar nationality, there was a big question as to why he did it. I said that he took it because it was given to him. He didn’t really care where he was. You know, he never had his own bedroom. He would just sleep on somebody’s sofa. Somebody gave him nationality, so he took it. He didn’t really care where he was as long as he could paint,” she says.
The only time Anjolie saw Husain unhappy was in London when “he had broken his right hand and couldn’t paint. We were having lunch and he was being fed by his daughter or son and he goes: ‘Let me see if I can eat with my left hand’. And when he managed, he jumped up from the table and with his meal unfinished exclaimed, ‘If I can eat with my left hand, I can certainly paint too’. He went to the next room and started to paint with his left hand. He started laughing and was happy again. I believe a day before he died he was still painting in the hospital.”
That’s the kind of passion that Anjolie feels is very infectious. “I am happy when I am painting; I paint every day. This time when I was in Copenhagen, I forgot to carry my sketch book. So, I looked all over Copenhagen but just couldn’t find the right one. I was feeling frustrated. When I came home, even though I was jetlagged, I started painting.”
These days the artist gets great satisfaction mentoring students through Spic Macay. “As long as they are sincere in what they are doing, I help them. I feel proud for those who continue to paint, especially women, because many come up with reasons like motherhood, mother-in-law said something, cooking, etc. But you need to take time out for what you love. Once in Russia, I painted with a small child strapped to my back with a shawl for two hours. There were no baby-sitters or mother-in-law, and the baby was quite content on my back. I did 60 paintings in this manner,” she says.