The spirit of Kashmir pervades through Kishori Kaul’s retrospective exhibition titled How Green Is My Valley and presented by Anant Art at Shridarani in Triveni Kala Sangam. Wonder and sensitivity, an integral part of the artist’s persona, is reflected in these pieces.

Kishori Kaul (1939 – 2018) was born to a Kashmiri Pundit family in Srinagar. The retrospective reveals her trajectory that began with her time spent at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda from where she graduated with a Master’s degree in painting in 1966, under the tutelage of stalwarts like N. S. Bendre and K. G. Subramanyan.

It was an awakening of sorts as she honed her talents and produced some very fine early works like Untitled in 1959. The angular bodies and the movements of the fishing women in grey, white, black, blue and a touch of red evoke the rhythm and colours associated with the sea. This brilliant fishing oil painting is the Piece de Resistance in this exhibition.

Yet another attractive Untitled 1959 piece was of dancers and a drummer in cobalt blue, maroon, that stand out on a vigorous mood of mud brown. They evoke images of the colours famous artist Amrita Shergil employed for her rural women. There are lyrical nuances in the flow of her lines as the artist captures the dance movements.

Her foray into metropolitan life and encounters with several people resulted in her deep study of the human face, created in her unique visual language, focusing on portraits of friends, family and others.

Kaul’s portraits are arresting as she has captured the inner spirit of her protagonists through their eyes, endorsing the theory that eyes are the windows to the soul. With the stroke of her brush, the artist breathes life into her images and invites the viewer to communicate with them. While the artist skilfully uses white in a gentle vein for Jayant Patel, she reveals her mastery of her technique by catching the intensity of Himmat Shah’s eyes.

Her exposure to the natural beauty of Kashmir from childhood instilled in her a love for nature that is evident in several of her works like another Untitled piece done in 1996. Sans humans this abstract interpretation of nature comes alive as the artist sprays shades of green ecstasy, along with wonderful rust in great abandon.

In Shikara on the Lake 1996, the rooftops of the houses embracing the light, the slither of a blue sky and the busy lake below is the image of Srinagar close to her heart. Here the artist shows her grasp and restraint on colour.

Kaul’s Untitled 2001 painting is bold and brightly coloured. It is a tree in full bloom with leaves and flowers, displaying a wonderful creation of visible brushstrokes, capturing a unique life force.

Kishori Kaul’s works have been exhibited widely in India and abroad in venues such as Gallery Art Heritage, the Lalit Kala Akademi, the Tokyo Biennale, and India House, London – to name a few. Kishori Kaul received the National Award from Lalit Kala Akademi in 1981, and her works feature in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, and the Patiala Museum, Punjab.