Owner’s Pride

Sitting on the banks of a river at twilight while on an all-India tour, a young couple was informed, by the excited bearer of a telegram, ...

Sitting on the banks of a river at twilight while on an all-India tour, a young couple was informed, by the excited bearer of a telegram, of the birth of their young niece in Mumbai. They decided she would be named Saryu, after the river. In the midst of organising a variety of art exhibits and previews, ceaselessly moving through the four floors of the NGMA, Saryu Doshi is very much like a strong, powerful river herself.

Regarded a prime force in the world of art, the honorary director of the National Gallery of Modern Art — like a river — also derives her energy from her beginning. From her education. A Bachelors from the Sir J J School of Art, further studies at the University of Michigan and a post-graduate degree at the University of Chicago, armed her with a strong base. But, for Dr Doshi that was not good enough. Her real education came through her association with a variety of colourful art personalities. Karl Khandalawala, chairperson NGMA, being one such person. "We would have lengthydiscussions. I felt so ignorant asking questions but being so eager to learn the subtle nuances — which are so easily missed in the preoccupation of knowledge — I would `hang out’ with him, taking in all that he had to impart." Dr Sivrammurthy, director of the National Museum in Delhi, is another special memory — their many conversations gave birth to new theories and many a puzzle was solved between them. "Crosswords bore me. I am interested in the puzzles of art history. Dates of the Sanchi stupas, figuring out which period a sculpture hails from, these occupy an immense amount of my time." Dr Spink is another interesting associate who comes year after year to study the Ajanta caves. His contrarian view, that the caves were built within 20 years, against the conventional one that they took over 100 years, has set her thinking too.

Her associations have also helped her build her personal collection. At 20, she was gifted an unfinished work of Ara which sits next to an early Gaitonde. F N Souza’s headsfigure strongly amidst the plethora of old and new art that form the eclectic collage on her walls. The vibrant S H Raza landscapes in bold reds and blues are different from his customary tantric representations. And yet, Saryu’s collection goes beyond the quintessential Husains, Razas and Anjolie Ela Menons, that are a part of most of the correct `collections’ in Mumbai. Her repertoire also explores young talent and strangely they seem to hold their own on the art-filled walls of her sun-strewn flat. Her outlook towards art is unique in other ways as well.

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Despite being an art lover and collector, she feels her real wealth is her memories of the stalwarts of art with whom she became associated with through her PhD at the Prince of Wales Museum, then as editor of MARG, and later as Chairperson Artists’ Centre. "Not even all the physical, tangible art of the world can replace the enlightening collection of experiences with people who lived and breathed Indian art, music, textiles and culture. I learntto transcend the obvious and reach for the sublime." Like her relationship with her mentor, Dr Motichandran, director, Prince of Wales Museum, with whom she shared a guru-shishya relationship. His health failed later, restricting his contact with the world of art, so she became his window to this world. Consequently, she learnt how to observe the minutest details and relate these to him later. "`What are the latest trends in ladies hair styles?’ he would ask, all of a sudden, in the midst of a serious conversation about Gothic Revival in architectural style!"

The director of Kala Bhavan museum, Rai saab — he would break into chanting sanskrit shlokas through their talks — taught her to go beyond the historical significance of art. "`Why are you so preoccupied with the date and time of a work,’ he would chide me. `Savour the flavour of the event instead’."

She also learnt that one cannot own all the art one loves and admires, but one can still be a part of the work. That is whenthe National Gallery of Modern Art — of which she is the director since its inception five years ago — came in. "To allow everyone to participate in the appreciation of art, thereby ensuring that it retains its appeal and relevance to society as a whole."