The Middle Ground

An applied artist by education, a print-maker at heart, Amit Kumar Jain always wanted to be an artist. It was only after two attempts at the National Institute of Design (Ahmedabad), one at the Faculty of Fine Arts (Vadodara), and three at the College of Art (New Delhi), that he could pursue his dream. Passionate about modern and contemporary art, as-well-as living traditions of India, he calls himself a middle-class collector, with a modest aim to “bust the notion that only big monies can buy art”. I met him at his Noida home, when he was in between jobs after leaving his role of Associate Vice President with Saffronart (the largest Indian auction house) to join the upcoming Museum of Art and Photography in Bengaluru as the Head of Exhibitions.

- Rahul Kumar

I inherited aesthetics from my maternal side of the family. My father studied law but ended up joining the family business. My mother comes from a culturally inclined, Mumbai-based family. We grew up in a joint family, with practically one room for us. So, there was no question of art on walls. My summer holidays were spent with my aunts. One of them was into textiles and another is now a renowned artist. It was there that I was exposed to the visual arts and held my first book of Nicolas Roerich, at the age of eight. My mother is the backbone of my career, ensuring that I always had a sketchbook and colours with me, a practice that I now follow with my daughter.

My consulting firm took birth and was named at a tea shack in 2001. Although I had deepest passion for it, I realised that being a visual artist was not my thing, but I felt the need to contribute to upcoming artists. In a conversation with friends over tea, I decided to launch my consulting outfit Navsar. This initiative made me look out for emerging talent, something I thoroughly enjoyed. It was around 2005 when my visa to the United States did not come through for a photography course in New York that Anupam Poddar called me to get involved with his Devi Art Foundation. I believe my experience there was the most enriching one. I call this my foundation training that allowed me to appreciate the contemporary arts and build an understanding of our living traditions, which have now become part of my expertise. It was a dramatic learning curve and I got paid to do exactly what I was doing for personal pleasure, that is travel and meet young artists. I still carry the passion and values that were imparted by Lekha and Anupam Poddar, who have contributed so much to my career.

The next two roles helped fill the gap of modern art in my sensibility.