Impressions

"It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors." - Oscar Wilde

I remember setting up my own "art gallery" when I was seven years old. I made about 30 drawings and I had only one customer- my mother- but it was an incredibly rewarding experience. Curiously enough, my favourite subjects for drawing were Oberoi Grand or Dominos Pizza or laboratories- I think I even made a drawing featuring all three in the same picture.

But I digress. The point is, I had developed a fascination for the world of art early on in life. Initially, I admired the technical perfection of artists- how well they replicated reality! I would stare at painted portraits with amazement- so perfect that they could pass off as photographs. However, as I grew older, I cared less about the "technical perfection" so to speak and more about what a work of art made me think and feel.

Of all the art movements, I love Impressionism the most. Impressionism is a 19th century art movement, which is all about capturing a fleeting moment, or an "impression." It focuses more on your perception of the subject of your painting than on perfectly replicating the subject. Most Impressionist paintings were painted outdoors, and heavily featured the play of light. The most famous Impressionist painters were Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir (my favourite), Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissaro and Edgar Degas.

Pierre Auguste Renoir is my favourite amongst all the Impressionist painters, because his paintings make me think of everything good in life- beauty, innocence, meraki, gentility, joy. Looking at his paintings is a curiously spiritual experience- I wonder if this is what it feels like to be one with God. I don't know how to describe it- you get so immersed in his paintings that it's like being a part of a beautiful, utopian world. It's not an artificial type of perfection, like you see in Photoshopped magazine photos, but something raw and real, gentle and good.

My photographs of his paintings won't be able to convey how extraordinary his paintings are. Even before I went to Paris and laid eyes on an actual Renoir painting, I had seen a lot of photos of Renior's paintings in books and on the internet, but they hadn't inspired the depth of feeling I experienced when I saw them in real life. I appreciated them before; I ardently love them now.

That's why I'd recommend a visit to Musee d'Orsay and Musee de l'Orangerie, where there are beautiful Impressionist paintings and other works to see.

I love Renoir's soft. dreamlike colours

Renoir's painting of two girls at a piano is my favourite. I love his dreamy backgrounds- it really gives you the impression that his subjects are deeply immersed in what they are doing, unconcerned with the world about them.

For this painting, The Clown, Renoir bribed his son with an electric toy train and a box of paints to get him to pose for this painting, in itchy white stockings

Renoir believed that while painting, the snow on the ground should reflect the sky

I liked Renoir's painting of strawberries

Renoir painted his son while he was playing with his toys. This painting is beautiful not just because of Renoir's typical style of painting, but also because it reminds you of the simple joys of childhood

Monet's Argenteuil is lovely. I could stare it at for hours- it's both beautiful and fascinating

I had half a mind of asking this lady if I could buy her reproduction of Argenteuil

It was something of a dream come true to see Monet's Water Lilies in real life

On the day I visited Musee d'Orsay, I was lucky enough to attend the exhibition on Pierre Auguste Renoir and his son Jean Renoir, the famous film maker. It was interesting to see that Pierre Auguste Renoir's artistic sensibilities were reflected in his son's movies. The exhibition showed Jean's movie clips alongside Pierre Auguste's paintings, and the resemblance was striking. The exhibition wasn't trying to put the filmmaker in the shadow of his illustrious father, but rather explore the "points of intersection between the two artists, between painting and cinema.... it is to explore the extent to which his father's legacy and his own intimate knowledge of painting influenced his directing career, in patterns of both homage and resistance."

Jean Renoir once said, "I have spent my life trying to determine the extent of the influence of my father's work on me." That made me think- each one of us is handed down a legacy, even though we may not be fully aware of what this legacy is. While Jean Renoir inherited his artistic sensibilities from his father, I realised I inherited mine from my mother, who is my patron, muse, and parent, all rolled into one.