Date: Fri 03-Sep-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: SARAH

Quick Words:

Vartak-Hunt-Chatham

Full Text:

Watercolors By Arundhati Vartak At Hunt Institute And Chatham College

(with 2 cuts)

PITTSBURGH, PENN. -- The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation at

Carnegie Mellon University in cooperation with Chatham College presents two

exhibitions of artworks by Arundhati Vartak of Pune, India.

The Hunt Institute will display "Portraits of Indian Trees: Arundhati Vartak"

from September 16 through February 29. This exhibition of approximately 40

watercolors will be on display on the 5th floor of the Hunt Library building

at Carnegie Mellon University from 9 am to noon and 1 to 5 pm, Monday through

Friday. Telephone 412/268-2434.

Chatham College will display "Arundhati Vartak's Sketches: Souls of Her

Paintings" from August 31 through September 25 in the Chatham College Gallery

of Art. The exhibition is presented by the Chatham College Arboretum and the

Landscape Studies program as part of the college's year long celebration of

the "Year of South Asia."

The public can view over 70 sketches from 11 am to 5 pm, Monday through

Friday; 1 to 4 pm, Saturday and Sunday; or by appointment.

Nature and art will be the subject of a lecture series titled "Word and Image

in Landscape and Nature of South Asia" on September 8, 13, and 22 at Chatham

College Arboretum. Call 412/365-1857 for more information about the lectures

and workshops.

Working in Pune and Mumbai, India, Arundhati Vartak is inspired by Indian

miniature paintings, but relies heavily on her thumbnail sketches and other

studies based on a keen observation of her subjects. The artist is also

inspired by reading old Sanskrit classics, including works by the poet

Kalidasa.

Her paintings have been published on greeting cards and postcards produced by

the World-Wide Fund for Nature, India; CRY (Child Relief and You); the Society

for the Education of the Crippled; the Bombay Natural History Society; and in

various books, magazines and newspapers.

She has held one-person exhibitions in Mumbai at the Jehangir Art Gallery,

Artists' Centre, House of Soviet Culture, and Nehru Centre Art Gallery.

Several of her paintings have been included in the Hunt Institute's 8th

International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration in 1995/1996 and in

"Contemporary Botanical Artists: The Shirley Sherwood Collection" and its

accompanying book.

A full-color, illustrated catalogue will be on sale at the Hunt Institute and

Chatham College. Both exhibitions are open to the public free of charge.