The Ambassador of France to India, Alexandre Ziegler co-hosted a special reception at the Residence of France, with Sunaina Anand, director, Art Alive Gallery, for the eminent artist Maïté Delteil. A selection of works from The Yellow Room series, created by the artist in the late 1960s, was also exhibited here.
Around 30 works in small format, dating back to the artist’s youth, were displayed here—works which are being show in India for the first time. A 45-minute biographical film by Joy Banerjee, titled Maïté Enchanted, was also screened.
The event took place on 12 March at the residence of the French ambassador in New Delhi. Ahead of the event, highlighting Maïté Delteil’s double roots in France and India, Ambassador Alexandre Ziegler said, “Tonight we are celebrating the work of an inspiring artist as well as the strong ties between India and France. Your story and your career, Maïté, perfectly illustrate how art can build bridges between our two countries. Through various programmes, like student exchanges or artist residencies, the Embassy of France in India is enhancing these dialogues for strengthening the bonds between India and France, which you and your husband, Sakti Burman, along with your peers, have built.”
Sunaina Anand, director, Art Alive Gallery, spoke about her discovery of Delteil’s works: “On my visit to Maïté’s country house studio in Anthe, France, in June 2018, I saw Maïté’s earlier works, which she kept in a closet. These small, intimate works reveal a deep influence of the European masters in her rendering of her own environment, the French countryside, where she spent a major part of her childhood. I was excited to see these amazing works and show this collection, which had never been showed before.” Recalling this creative period, Maïté Delteil commented, “At the end of the 1960s, I was mainly working in Japan. Looking into these paintings, I realised I was very much concerned with the search of vibrant colours simply applied, as Matisse was doing. I was also trying to depict intimate interiors to present models in gentle boudoirs, in a contemplative appearance, more than in a
banal sentimental vision. At that time, I was impressed by artists like Berthe Morisot, Edward Vuillard or Pierre Bonnard.”
This exhibition of paintings from the 1960s follows a show of Maïté Delteil’s drawings from the 1970s, which was curated by Ranjit Hoskote in Mumbai in December 2018.
The full collection of The Yellow Room series will be on view at Art Alive Gallery, S 221, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi, from 15 March to 15 April 2019.