Young painters in the country have never had it so good. For once, they have displaced the Husains and the Razas in popularity stakes and have successfully moved into plush interiors of five-star hotels, corporate houses and celebrity homes. These youngsters may not have made a name for themselves, but the works that they are being commissioned to do more than make up for it, says Samir Sarkar

"REALISTIC, pretty paintings are moving faster than a Husain or a Souza," says D. V. Desai, an art dealer who has been running a gallery for the past 35 years in Delhi. "High art may look good in a gallery, but nobody wants to take it home and hang it on the walls, especially if the painting is grim and dark."

Changing lifestyles could be one reason for the switch in public tastes. Increased awareness about making the most of living spaces and a fascination towards artistically done-up interiors have led housewives to commission fresh art school students to do a painting or two for their walls.

Never mind if the lady of the house has no clue about aesthetics. For that matter, she couldn’t care less even if the commissioned work is an exact copy of a well-known master’s work, so long as it fits the dimension of a blank wall, or perhaps, matches the colour of her curtains!

"My paintings are better than the originals," enthuses Asha Chandra about the Van Goghs, Rembrandts and Ravi Varmas she had got painted by copycat artists while her husband was away running his courier service. "They are worth the investment I have made on them."

Not only unknown housewives, but famous personalities like Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and former film actress Poonam Dhillon are proud owners of countless copies of priceless originals in their drawing rooms.

Another reason for the popularity of this new generation of painters is their adaptability towards Feng Shui and Vaastu. The choice of subject, colour scheme and technique are all dictated by the principle that pictures on walls must be pleasant and emit positive energy.

"My paintings are considered Vaastu-friendly," boasts Anju Kuthiala, a former Miss India who took to painting 10 years ago. "But this has come out of trial and error. Earlier, I loved applying a lot of white, but when I discovered that colour was not auspicious, I stopped using it."

What else sells?

"Beautiful faces with beautiful make-up and wearing beautiful clothes are basically what Indians find very appealing," Desai points out. "Customers don’t like abstract paintings they do not understand. But these are facts you cannot influence the old masters with. They will do what they please."

Kuthiala agrees that abstracts do not have a market any more. "Buyers keep insisting that I should make faces on my paintings more realistic. Even if I was to do a plain-faced woman, there would be no takers. So now I stick to beautiful, cosmopolitan faces — a mix of the rural and urban, which is the ultimate Indian male fantasy."

Other recurrent themes for pretty pictures are Rajasthani desertscapes, portraits, paintings depicting the architectural splendour of a historical landmark, dancing figures, colourful birds perched or in flight, still life — especially of vegetables and fruits — and Mughal miniatures.

According to interior decorators, the prevailing "thumb-rule" is that for a European-style home, French impressionist fakes are best suited; if the interiors are colonial, a Ravi Varma copy is ideal; and for an ethnic decor, a Rajasthani belle or Mughal miniature is considered appropriate.

For the few painters who do not recognise these marked demands, the climb upwards can take years. For instance, Hemant Sharma has been floundering around Mumbai with his art degree and an obsession for surrealist abstracts, whereas his wife, Anuradha became a star painter within weeks of taking the brush.

But then, there are limits to which even Anuradha will adapt. "A businessman wanted a painting of a table laid out with fruits and cutlery. I accepted the offer. Then he started dictating the types of fruits, the positioning of cutlery, the play of shadows. I got irritated and told him to go paint himself."

Other artists complain of clients finding faults in their paintings and insisting on correcting them. "Being freshers in the field, we try to oblige as far as possible," says Girish Parab. "One buyer began faulting the size of a woman’s breasts and finally couldn’t even make up his mind whether she should be clothed or nude !" (MF)