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An exhibition of new paintings by the self-taught Indian painter, Sunita Kumar.
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Sunita Kumar’s
India
A letter from MF Husain to Sunita at the time of her Mumbai Show, 2009
SUNITA
KUMAR’S
India
MALLETT LONDON 2012
Sunita Kumar by Mick Brown Working in the cool quietude of her home
in Calcutta - an oasis of serenity in the
midst of the bustle and chaos of that most
vibrantly thrilling city - Sunita brings to
life the sights and atmosphere of her India:
its fl ora and fauna, its street-scenes and
architecture, its spiritual motifs - and the
life of the Albanian nun who made India
her home - Mother Teresa, Sunita’s friend
and inspiration, and the subject of so many
of her paintings over the years. If painting is
a mirror of temperament, then what we see
in these works is a mind at once engaged,
amused, meditative and serene.
Th e daughter of the managing-director
of an English paint company, Sunita Kumar
was born in Lahore in 1942, but the family
fl ed at the time of Partition, when she was
fi ve, and she grew up in Calcutta. Although
her parents were Sikh, like many middle-
class Indians they chose to have their
daughter educated at a Catholic school -
Loreto House. Sunita had always enjoyed art
as a child, but it was her close relationship
with Mother Teresa that would encourage
her to begin painting in earnest.
For 35 years, Sunita worked as a
volunteer at the Mother House, becoming
Golden Temple 30 x 30 in
Mother Teresa’s confi dante, and her offi cial
spokesperson, the intermediary between
Mother and the world of bureaucracy
and offi cialdom. In turn, Mother, and the
various aspects of her life and work became
Sunita’s favourite subject.
Towards the end of her life, Mother
would come regularly to Sunita’s home, to
sit on the sofa and talk and appraise her
work, encouraging her to paint the various
projects of the Missionaries of Charity. ‘She
would say: you must paint the Home for the
Dying, you must paint the children. And
she would sign the pictures - she signed
so many which I gave to members of my
family - I didn’t want to sell them. And she
never made any criticism, not one! She was
very kind like that.’ Mother would exert a
more subtle infl uence through her example.
What Sunita remembers as ‘her gentleness,
the calm of her life’, would impress itself
indelibly on Sunita, and fi nd a visual
expression in her work.
Another signifi cant fi gure in Sunita’s
development as a painter was her close
friend, and India’s most famous artist,
MF Husain. Fittingly, she remembers, ‘the
friendship began with a painting’. Husain
was a great tennis fan, and Sunita’s husband,
Naresh Kumar, was a great tennis player - a
former captain of India’s Davis Cup team,
he played in 20 consecutive Wimbledon
Championships between 1949 and
1969. One day Sunita and Husain found
themselves sitting next to each other at
the National championships in Delhi, and
struck up a conversation. ‘Vijay Amritraj
was playing the Australian Mal Anderson’,
Sunita remembers. ‘It was two sets all, and
Husain said, if Vijay wins, I give you one of
my paintings; and if Mal Anderson wins,
you give me one of yours.’ And who won
the game? Sunita laughs. ‘Vijay, of course!
And I won the painting!’ It was the fi rst in
what would become an extensive collection
of Husain’s paintings; and the beginning of
a deep friendship that lasted until Husain’s
death in 2011 at the age of 95. Husain,
Sunita says, was unstinting in his advice
and his encouragement, and the two artists
frequently exhibited together.
Th is new collection of paintings explores
a number of familiar themes in Sunita’s
paintings, not least the abiding inspiration
of Mother Teresa, as well a number of new
ones, and mixes a traditional fi gurative
style with an altogether freerer hand. Th ey
Cows 24 x 24 in
display an evolution of her style, a greater
spontaneity, stylistic expression, freedom
and ease, as if she is less tied to painting
what is actually in front of her than to the
feelings it inspires.
In her landscapes, trees shimmer in
blues, oranges and pinks. Th ere are stately
studies of Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi and
the Raj Bhavan in Calcutta, ghosts of India’s
Moghul and British colonial past. Other
paintings refl ect the growing inspiration
of India’s rich spiritual tradition. Th ere are
portraits of Guru Nanak, the founder of
Sikhism, and of Shirdi Sai Baba, the great
saint of Southern India. Kali, the goddess of
time and change is depicted presiding over
the great temple in her name in Calcutta,
while a study of Krishna refl ects the story
of the battle between Krishna and Indra,
the deity of thunder and rain, when Krishna
lift ed Mount Govardhan and held it up as
protection to his people and cattle from
the rain. Indra fi nally accepted defeat and
recognized Krishna as supreme. But the
abiding spirit of this collection is Mother
Teresa. ‘I always come back to her, because
of my fondness for her and having been so
close to her. She is still very, very special to
me.’
Here are myriad refl ections of Mother’s
work and life; Mother and her nuns are
shown as a blur of white robes as they go
about their work on behalf of the poor
and dispossessed. Th e train to Darjeeling,
on which she was travelling when she fi rst
heard God’s instruction to start her Order,
is depicted in the blue and white colours
which became her symbol. In the Home
for the Dying (Nirmal Hriday opposite),
fl owers blossom as symbols of love in the
midst of suff ering. Th ere is also the room
in the Mother House where she lived and
worked - little more than a cell, furnished
only with a bed, a wooden desk and a
stool, the used tins in which she used to
store all her correspondence and papers,
arranged along the window-sill. Here is
Nirmal Hriday 30 x 30 in
Sunita Kumar’s India in all its warmth,
diversity and vibrancy - its lightness of
touch and serenity of spirit. ‘Painting to me
is total peace’, Sunita says. ‘Th at’s the way I
feel when I’m working; I’m enjoying it, I’m
happy. And I hope these paintings bring
peace and happiness to others.’
Qutub Minar 24 x 24 in
Shirdi Sai Baba 24 x 24 in
‘Just when you thought that the
paintings of Sunita Kumar could
not be bettered, she produces
another exhibition that blows you
away. Sunita as always conveys a
peace and calm, but her colours
are warm and happy. I especially
love her animals, and this time
am drawn to an Elephant, whereas
at the last exhibition it was a very
knowing Monkey that stole my
heart. Somehow the way she
intimates an atmosphere without
over-working it is magic for me,
and means that you can look for
ever with immense pleasure at her
work.’
Nina Campbell
Rose 48 x 24 in
Royal Elephant 40 x 30 in
Hutments 30 x 60 in
Blue Trees 30 x 40 in
Butterfl y 24 x 30 in
‘I have known Sunita for over 20 years and have always loved her and her work. She exudes an
amazing combination of peace and creativity, in both her life and her work. I love her playful
yet deeply spiritual paintings; her bright colours are straight from her home country and, over
the years, she has developed many new and diff erent techniques. Sunita’s art transports you
to another world of peace, harmony, laughter and love. I am the proud owner of a beautiful
painting of Ganesh. He cheers me up and keeps my home and family lucky.’
Jerry Hall
Landscape (Blue) 30 x 60 in
‘In the midst of all the technical
bravado and dazzle of art events,
a painter serene in her presence
and subtle in her rendering
of images in colour and line,
whispers in your ears the mother
Teresa’s love for motherless
children, the sound of singing
birds, plants and the beat of
human compassion. Th at serene
and silent painter is Sunita
Kumar.’
MF Husain (1915-2011)
Mother’s Room 48 x 24 in
Courtyard 36 x 24 in
Gul Mohur 36 x 30 in
Indian Laburnum 30 x 30 in
Moghul Gali 24 x 24 in
Kali Temple 36 x 24 in
Monkeys 24 x 24 in
Avenue of Trees 36 x 30 in
S U N I TA K U M A R ’ S I n d i a
1st -10th November 2012
Mallett
Ely House
37 Dover Street
London W1S 4NJ
Opening times :
Weekdays : 10am-5pm
Saturdays : 10am-4pm
or by appointment
For further information :
Katie Pertwee 07939 155 277
Gina Hamilton 020 7499 7411
www.mallettantiques.com
Front cover : Krishna 30 x 30 in
Back cover : Tea Gardens 36 x 36 in
All paintings are acrylic on canvas
Typeset in Gill and Minion
Designed & Printed by Anderson Printing House
MALLETTLONDON • NEW YORK
MALLETTLONDON • NEW YORK
