The Wholesale Collector

Ashwini Kakkar, chief executive officer and managing director of Thomas Cook (India), can give an art museum a complex.

With around 600 paintings -- and many more to be added --- his gallery pours with artists of all hues.

Ask him to select his favourite and he says it is a tough task. Ditto in the case of the artists.

Kakkar likes so many of them-S H Raza, Shakti Burman, Yusuf Arakal, Manjit Bawa, Anjolie Ela Menon and F N Souza.

Kakkar's art initiation began at a young age. At 12, his father would take him and his sister to places, like the Jehangir Art Gallery, J J School of Arts, Artists Centre and The Taj Mahal Hotel.

His affair with art took off when he went to study business management at Fontainebleau, France.

"In Europe, I was exposed to the European art, the Dutch masters; and various museums in Holland, Italy and England."

On his return in 1980, Kakkar spent time learning the history of art. He read everything on art that he could lay his hands on.

"So, it was a combination of several things that developed my interest in art," Kakkar says. He sheepishly admits that he is also a painter, albeit a "pathetic" one.

Kakkar has a task on hand. He is busy collecting paintings. "I am putting together a collection of modern and contemporary Indian art, from 1900".

So he is looking for art works from the Bengal School, the Baroda School, the Progressive group, Cholamandalam village and Shantiniketan.

"There are many gaps in my collection, which need to be filled", says Kakkar. His vast collection is brushed by wellknown names as well as budding artists.

Kakkar does not patronise just one form of art. His gallery has paintings, sculptures, ceramics, Chola bronzes, marbles and granite works.

Kakkar is, however, not an impulsive collector. A lot of thought goes into every purchase. He looks for colour, form, expression, depth and longevity in a work. And the places of purchase, include art galleries, auctions, resale, collectors and artists.

So possessive is Kakkar about his collection that he says there is no way that he will sell any of his collection.

"There are certain works for which I paid a pittance," he says. Like, he bought an MF Hussain in 1990 for a steal. An interesting one is a Gopal Adiverkar.

It's a 4ftx4ft painting studded with human figures. "It is an artist's view of a congregation," he says.

He points out to two 3ftx2ft paintings by Anjolie Ela Menon in the 1970s. One is a Brahmin boy. Kakkar likes the texture, feel, simplicity showing a lot of emotion.