Symphony of Seasons

Symphony of Seasons

My current series of paintings is about the Alps and the Himalayas. I have been travelling and painting in various regions around these mountain ranges during different seasons for almost three years.

The series is about the ever changing atmosphere and magnificent environment in closeness of these majestic and mystical mountain ranges.

Inspiration and the artistic journey

From 2007 to 2009, while I was painting a series on ballet dancers at the Florence Dance Center, Italy, I frequently flew to Florence at different times of the year. On clear-sky days, the aerial view of the Alps was mesmerizing.  If the landscape was so beautiful from up above it should be, I was certain, equally spectacular at ground level.

I first travelled to the Swiss Alps in 2013, and from then on began my artistic journey in the Alps. Over the course of the next two years, I painted in different regions across Swiss, French, Italian, Austrian and German Alps at different times of the year.

I painted smaller works on location and larger canvases in my studio.

The paintings on the Alps series formed a part of my solo exhibition at the Florence Dance Center, Italy, in March 2016.

The two mountain ranges have different flora, fauna and also diverse cultures. Like the Alps,

I was equally fascinated with the world’s youngest mountain range: the Himalayas.

Just as I painted in the Alps, I trekked across the Himalayas painting in different regions around Himalayan terrain; this journey of mine is still ongoing.

With vast areas devoid of human presence, serenity rules in both the Alps and the Himalayas.

In both places, however, the impression of the landscape always seems to be fleeting. My aim was to try and capture the ephemeral moods of the Alps and Himalayas in my paintings.

People who live in the mountains, I observed, love their environment and live in complete harmony with nature.

That is the very essence of my paintings of the mountains, to admire, preserve and live in harmony with nature.

Devdatta  Padekar

DEVDATTA PADEKAR

BORN
11 November 1978.

EDUCATION
B.F.A. (Painting) First Class First with Distinction from Sir J.J.School of Art, Mumbai, India - 1999.
M.F.A. (Portraiture) First Class First with Distinction from Sir J.J.School of Art, Mumbai, India - 2001.
M.A. (Drawing) Camberwell College of Arts, London, UK - 2005.
Studied at The Florence Academy of Art, Florence, Italy - 2007.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
The Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai - 2002, 2007, 2013.
Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi - 2006.
Shridharani Gallery, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi - 2008, 2012.
Florence Dance Center, Florence, Italy - 2010, 2016.

Kynkyny Art Gallery, Bangalore - 2014.

SELECTED SCHOLARSHIPS
British Chevening Scholarship for postgraduate study at Camberwell College of Arts, London - 2004-05.
Bendre-Husain Scholarship from The Bombay Art Society - 2004.

SELECTED AWARDS
Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Award, Canada - 2006.

Pastel Society Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, UK - 2005.

12^th Annual International Pastel 100 Competition, U.S.A.- 2010.
The Art Society of India - 2001, 2003.
The Bombay Art Society - 2002, 2003.

Shri Ravi Paranjape Foundation Prize - 2006.
Maharashtra State Art Exhibition - 2002.
All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), Maharashtra State Exhibition - 2001.

SELECTED AWARDS IN ACADEMIC CAREER
The Art Society of India - 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000.
The Bombay Art Society - 1996.
South Central Zone Cultural Centre, Nagpur - 1996.
Maharashtra State Art Exhibition, First Prize - 1998, 2001.
Miss Dolly Coursetjee Competition for Mural, First Prize - 1998, 1999.
Sir J.J.School of Art, Painting Exhibition on 50 Years of India’s Independence, First Prize - 1998.
Sir J.J.School of Art Annual Exhibition - 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999*, 2000, 2001.
*Government’s First Prize.
Shree N.S.Bendre Foundation Prize - 1999.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PUBLICATIONS

Selected among 100 Artists worldwide for an International book published titled "How did you paint that?  100 ways to paint people.”

Interview published in October 2011 issue of “Pastel Journal”, an American art publication.

Interview published in April/ May 2014 issue of “Pratique des Arts”, a French art publication.