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The Rediff Interview/Vishwanath Pratap Singh

'The face reveals everything about a person'

From politics to art is not exactly an easy transition. But Vishwanath Pratap Singh, former prime minister of India, has done it over the past five years. And as he readies to exhibit his paintings in Mumbai this week, it is time to open the bubbly for a man who has fought back serious illness and dialysis thrice a week with his new-found passion for art.

When exactly did you turn to art?

In 1994, when the doctor said I might need chemotherapy. Luckily I never did. But from time to time someone or the other has recommended it.

I had always been drawn to painting and poetry and there were occasions before, when in the midst of other things, like active politics, I had taken time off to write and paint. In between, for two years, I did not work because of kidney failure and dialysis. I felt sick all the time. I improved when I was in London under treatment and that is when I went back to painting. Some of these works were done abroad, when I was recovering there. But now it is my passion. I have done so many works over the past few years, you can see.

How many works do you intend to exhibit this week at the Jehangir?

Ideally around 35, but maybe more if space permits. We are showing in the auditorium gallery and the idea is to have a range of work out there, from oils to pencil drawings to pen and ink to crayons to watercolours, at prices that people can afford to spend for such work. There is one large oil that I have kept separate, to sell and raise money for the Orissa calamity. The cheque can be directly written in the name of the Prime Minister's Relief Fund. That will help the donor to get tax relief.

Which medium do you enjoy the most? Oils or watercolours or simple pen and ink?

It all depends on the subject, Pritish. My first works were in oils. My hand seen in a mirror: that was the first oil painting I did in 1994. The second was the noose. Third was the cat. I started with oils. Later on, I went into watercolours.

The subject dictates my technique, my medium. Look at those handcarts. They are in crayons. They could have not looked so interesting in any other medium. This, on the other hand, is my latest work. It is moving towards abstraction. It is in oil. These faces are all in watercolours. As I have done more and more faces, I have moved away from simplistic portraits to more and more complex forms. But I always try to avoid overpainting. I leave white spaces all around, as in that work out there. To me it looks unfinished, but others thought it was complete. So I let it go. Why should I work so hard on a painting when others think it is already completed?

But jokes apart, I leave my works incomplete so that the viewer can use his or her imagination to finish it off in his or her own mind. Look at that crow. I have done that image in both watercolours and oil. Look at the difference.

That looks like it was done in Mumbai. It is a typical Mumbai seascape.

The smaller watercolour was done here, when I was staying at the Raj Bhavan. The larger oil was done in Delhi. Meanwhile, for those who cannot afford such big works, there are silkscreen reproductions on tussar silk that I intend to sell at cost. At, say, Rs 1,000 or perhaps even less. These are reproduced from my pen and ink drawings, including this self portrait drawn during the Mandal campaign.

I love this Raveena Tandon portrait.

Whose portrait?

Raveena Tandon. She is our loveliest heroine on the screen today.

I have never seen her. Show me a picture. I have drawn this with no one in mind.

Why have you drawn so many faces? Faces of people, dogs, cats, squirrels, goats. Do faces mean something special to you?

Yes they do. Remember the first work of mine that you published in The Illustrated Weekly many years ago? That was also a face. The face of a woman. With long black hair. Remember it?

What excites you about a face?

It says so much. It reveals everything about a person.

And none of these faces are of real people?

No. I have seen them in my mind and tried to capture them on paper and canvas.

Has any painter, Indian or international, ever inspired you?

No. I have seen their works, but no one has inspired me. Only life has. Life and experience.

When did you first think of this exhibition?

Maneka [Gandhi] has been always telling me that I must show my work. In fact, she sold a few of my works at her different shows for People for Animals at prices which quite surprised me. So when Ajit Caur wanted to hold a preview of these works in her gallery in Delhi, I readily agreed. The response was so good that she insisted I must keep them on as a show. I did. But now the real exhibition will happen. Sudarshan [Loyalka] was a great help. We booked the gallery at the Jehangir a long time back, but postponed the show because my health kept giving me trouble. We postponed the exhibition thrice in fact and now, finally, we have taken someone else's cancellation to show the work. Let us see how art lovers react to it. It will give me an insight into the quality of my work.

Does your politics ever influence your art? Do you feel the causes you espouse in politics must necessarily invade the world of your paintings?

No. They have their different places in my life. Most of my works are faces and landscapes. They have nothing to do with politics. In fact, my latest works, like this one, are strongly abstract. I find abstract works much more difficult than figurative or realistic work. That is why I have come to abstractionism last. Look how strong the colours look in this light here, but put this painting anywhere else in the room and it says something very different. The reds become muted. The colours look different. That is the peculiar thing about abstract paintings. They keep changing under different display conditions. Do you think I should show it?

Why not, since you already have some very simple and realistic works like this early painting of a cat?

Yes, it was one of my earliest works. A copy. I was not intending to show it. It has only historic interest, being one of my first works.

Are you going to sell all these paintings?

No. Many of them are by now a part of my life. I have no intention of selling them. My walls at home will become empty! But, yes, I will sell many of them and, in fact, I intend to do some small, unframed drawings that people can buy for two or three hundred rupees. The framing itself is so expensive that I cannot otherwise afford to sell any work below Rs 800. That excludes many people from being able to afford them.

Do you think it is important to afford art?

It is important to share art.

The Rediff Interviews

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