EDUCATION
Not formally trained but Rudi Von Leyden, the critic
of the Times of India, recognized his talent. ? He also
received guidance from Prof. W. Langhammer, Art Director,
Times of India. ? Completed a foundation course, Ketkar
Institute of Art, Bombay.
EXHIBITIONS
1942 First solo show at Bombay Art Society Salon in
Rampart Row (now Artists` Aid Center), Bombay. ? 1944
Exhb. at the Chetan Restaurant, Bombay. ? 1947 Exhb.
in Matunga, a Bombay Suburb. ? 1948 Inaugural exhb.
Progressive Artist`s Group, at Bombay Art Society, Bombay.
? 1948 Two shows held in the provincial towns of Surat
and Rander. ? 1949-55 Group Exhb. with Progressive Artist`s
Group, Bombay, Ahmedabad and Baroda. ? 1950 One man
show of Still Life. ? 1950 Calcutta Group - Progressive
Artists Group, had joint exhb., Calcutta. ? 1954,60
Exhb at Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay. ? 1961 One man
show at Hyderabad. ? 1962 Nude Show, Taj Gallery, Bombay.
? 1963 Held an exhb. of his paintings, exclusively in
aid of the National Defence Fund, Roop Gallery. ? 1963
Black Nude Series, Pundole Art Gallery, Bombay. ? 1963
`Poem on Canvas`, Taj Gallery and Byculla. ? 1964 `Jasnne-e-Ara`,
Prince of Wales Museum, Key Gallery, Bombay. ? 1966
Solo Exhb. of Paintings, on the 3rd Anniversary
COLLECTION
Late Sir Cowasji Jehangir Family Collection. ? National
Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi. ? Baroda Museum, Baroda.
? Faculty Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajiroa University,
Baroda. ? State Transport, Bombay. ? Howard University.
? Atomic Energy Commission, Bombay. ? The Prince of
Wales Museum, Bombay. ? Fred Harvey Museum, Bangalore.
? The High Court Bar Room, Bombay. ? Yale University,
USA. ? Kali Pundole Family Collection. ? Lalit Kala
Akademi, New Delhi. ? Tata Institute of Fundamental
Research, Bombay. ? Late Rudi von Leden Family Collection.
? Trivandrum Museum. ? The Govt. of Andhra Pradesh Museum.
? Hyderabad Art Society, Hyderabad. ? Air India International.
? Indian Airlines Corporation. ? Globe Theatres Ltd.
AWARDS
He has won numerous awards and prizes including the
Gold Medal at the inauguration of the Jehangir Art Gallery,
Bombay. ? 1944 Awarded the Governor`s Prize, Bombay.
? Awarded the Windsor and Newton cash prize. ? 1952
Received trophy of Bombay Art Society, Bombay. ? He
went to Paris as a Guest of Honour of the French Govt.
STYLE
Ara evolved his own style of Painting in oil and water
colour medium. His still lifes and nude studies has
a rave charm as far as colour scale and rendering skill
were concerned. His art has always been intutive, imaginative,
spontaneous and improvised and not deliberate and intellectual,
intent on finding expression through studied and calculated
means. This has produced in him a certain eclecticism,
which is not really imitative or derivative, but has
led him from style in a kind of rambling journey, more
of a discovery than a search....
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