I started out my modest art collection with an oil on canvas of Venice in sombre yellows by a little known Indian painter. Somehow, trite as the images are of Venice with its bridges and boats and narrow canals, I have always been fascinated by the romance it holds and was keen on buying a painting from Venice itself when I visited it briefly last year. However, my visit was far too brief and too hectic to even look around leave alone search for a painting that caught my fancy, so whenI was invited to the Sunday brunch and preview of Surya Prakash’s paintings of Venice by Maninder Dawer of INDIA FINE ART GALLERY, Tardeo, I was quite

looking forward to it.

Our Sunday began with another brunch event in another part of town and even though we were stuffed to the gills with our vegetarian Gujarati food that we’d pigged out on, we made a quick visit to the gallery.

The paintings were magical – the black and white oils were particularly dramatic and one could spend hours just looking at them and absorbing  the mood of Venice which retains a freshness time after time.

The turnout was really good despite it being a lazy Sunday and several well-known artists mingled with Mani’s friends and clients. Even though the works were large, there were already some sold out – not surprising really since Surya Prakash is a senior Hyderabad based artist known for his impressionistic works of nature.

This new series of acrylic on canvas and paper, in vibrant colours as well as black and white is definitely simply stunning so go have a look .

Paintings will be on display  from

• February 2-9 from 11 am to 7 pm at India Fine Art Gallery
• February 10-16 from 11 am to 7 pm at Auditorium Hall, Jehangir Art Gallery
• Open on Sundays and holidays too

A piece of trivia – it was Surya Prakash who first introduced Mumbai to Vaikuntham.

While I have no space large enough to display these gorgeous works, I will be happy to display the mug that Mani gave me and recall the magic of Surya Prakash’s Venice.

Thanks Mani for this delightful gift!

p.s. What really thrilled me was that Mani told me that he’d found my blog post about the Vaikuntham coasters he’d sent along as a Diwali gift on Google and I could hardly believe that I could be found on the internet so randomly !

I’m linking this to Write Tribe Pro Blogger Challenge