Vishwanath Nageshkar was born at Kolhapur, Maharashtra. Nageshkar's early year in the royal Kolhapur milieu and his subsequent training in the Sir J.J. School of Art in Mumbai under the guidance of Capt. Gladstone Solomon gave him a dynamic perspective into new ways of seeing things. Nageshkar, whose family hailed from Goa, grew up in Kolhapur and seems to have thrived in its multicultural ambiance.
It was during his art education at the Ecole de Beaux Art in Paris and the Academy for Fine Art in Munich that Nageshkar arrived at the turning point in his painterly journey. His intense involvement and identification with the European environment found its resonance in his work where bold, stylized figuration and the application of brilliant jewel tones of a high palette distinguish his work. A strong under current of a sensual and sometimes overtly erotic element mark his work. His best oils capture the viewer with their strong imagery that often holds a slight edge of menace. Predominant in the artist's present body of work are the portrayal of females in a great sweep of protagonists that range from exotic nudes, to powerful women and meditative figures. A deep stillness pulls these compositions together and centers them as if they were presiding over the calm that sits in the vortex of a storm.
Nageshkar reveled in contrasts. Green, copper headed nudes, red females, black clad sacred figures are interspersed with haughty females perched on chairs. The solid colour grounds have a flat perspective reminiscent of Indian miniatures. Cobalt blues meet mango oranges. Glowing emerald greens are cooled by white. An inner luminescence binds the tonal qualities and an alert outward looking stillness renders the artist's persona strong and assertive. The large slanted eyes, the high foreheads and cheekbones, the athletic figures carry touches of Kishanghad miniatures embedded in expressionist formulations. A fine grasp of line and volume, the resonance of negative space and the use of layered washes informs these works wfth a refinement in the figuration. Nageshkar's panorama of looming red flat slanting roofed houses holds a deeply expressive sensuality and is just as powerful as his expressive figuration and carries his play of light and formulation of colour with dramatic impact.
Nageshkar likes to grapple with the core of things and seems to celebrate life for the very power of its presence. His work is enigmatic and commands attention. Despite the variations in theme and image the artist remains quite authoritatively in control of his idiom. Nageshkar carried his Indian roots deep within his psyche while choosing to make his home in Europe. The interfacing of differing streams of influences in his life leaves their restless imprint on his work, which was well received in Europe.
Born :
Education :
- 1989 : Kankawali
- 1940, 1941 : Studied at Berlin under Prof. A. Strube
- 1938, 1940 : Studied at the Kunstakademic, Munchen, Germany
- 1933, 1935 : Studied at the Edole National Superienre des Beaux - Arts, Paris - France
- 1930, 1931 : Specialized in Frescoes from Sir J.J. School of Art, Bombay
- 1927, 1930 : G.D.Art from Sir. J.J. School of Art, Bombay
- 1916, 1926 : Primary & Secondary School Education in Kolhapur
