The 16 life-size paintings of Mahatma Gandhi by artist Amrut M. Sahu is on display at Ideal Fine Art Institution in the city.
Prof. Sahu from the Architecture Department in the PDA College of Engineering has tried to explain the life history of Gandhiji in his work.
The artist has focused particularly in terms of his colour usage and that is an intrinsic factor of his work.
One of the paintings shows how Gandhiji was inspired by the story of Satya Harishchandra that left an indelible impression on his mind.
Through his paintings, the artist expressed Gandhi’s ideals of truth, simplicity, non-violence and peaceful resistance.
Another painting compares how modern India has been captured by foreign brands with that of the Swadeshi movement to boycott British products.
Another one reveals the articles, in stark simplicity, used by Gandhi. A painting of the Dandi March and the one showing how saddened he was by the Partition.
Another one shows Gandhi taking a group photograph with foreigners that explain how he was revered across the world.
One shows Gandhi sitting desolately and in the backdrop is a picture of India’s poverty.
“I worked for every single painting for 2-3 months. It took about five years for me to complete the Mahatma Gandhi series,” Prof. Sahu said.
In the last four-and-a half-decades, he worked on some 500 works including a series on the theme of ‘rural life of India’, and ‘the cow’.
He has exhibited his works across the country in the last 25 years and has also received numerous awards from the State and the Union government.
