The Academy will be holding a series of intensive master workshops on classical drawing and painting at the Rishabh Art Studio from October 7 to November 15. Daniel Graves, founder of Florence Academy of Arts was in the city and life caught up with the art educator. Excerpts from the interview:
* Your take on Indian art.
I got fascinated with Indian art after I studied about it at the university. I find the influences and back-and-forth between Indian and Western art extremely interesting. It's like mixing music, an amalgamation of cultures. In art, this is an exciting time to live as the freedoms offered and the possibilities thereby are enormous. In the past we were very restrictive to what kind of art we could make, and it holds true in cultures such as India, where it was very stylised and very formal.
* Do you find any gaps in art education in the world and in India?
The gaps for me are universal right now. Traditional art in most cultures has fallen, giving way to pop art and expressions that are less skill-based, except perhaps in China and Japan, where certain aspects of it are still maintained.
Skill is at the foundation of great art, whether western or eastern. Practice gives life and beauty to an art form - whether it is music, dance or painting. And rigour is what gives it life. Whether it is calligraphy, Chinese or Japanese, it must be practised every day.
* Florence is a beautiful city, and full of breathtaking art, culture and architecture. Tell us about your association with it.
Florence is the cradle of the Renaissance. So much of western art has flourished and come out of Florence, and its effects have rippled so much through the centuries that now, almost 500 years later, we are still feeling the impact of the great artists who formed the core of the Renaissance. This whole tradition and beauty of it, is what I want to align my own art with.
* Are the art students these days doing quality work?
Generally, no. Only skill-based artists are doing work of some quality. Such students are in a minority, especially in America and Europe. The few with classical training are producing some very strong and important work, which is starting to proliferate the globe.
* How can we increase the audience for art?
Exposure. I think the most important thing is to get the work up on the walls and let people see it. The best way to appreciate a painting or sculpture is to see it in flesh and so we need to work harder getting people out to exhibitions, to make the exhibitions more interesting and more fun for people to produce a painting.
(Siddhi Jain can be contacted at siddhi.j@.in)
( With inputs from IANS )