Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation

Enduring Perfection: Paintings by Damodar Lal Gurjar

24 April – 31 July 2001

Damodar Lal Gurjar of Jaipur, India, is influenced by the traditional school of painting from the desert state of Rajasthan, but his technique is a blend of the traditional and contemporary. Certainly he is one of India's leading artists of natural-history themes and a master at super-realism and depicting textures in his subjects. Born in 1958 and educated at the Rajasthan School of Art, Gurjar has made his career as a freelance artist painting numerous private commissions in watercolor, gouache and tempera. One-person exhibitions have been held at the Ranthambhore School of Art in Sawai Madhopur (1990) and the Crafts Museum in New Delhi (1994). In 1999 Gurjar received a State Award from the Rajasthan Lalit Kala Academy and an All India Award by the Department of Environment. His work is almost unknown outside of India. Accompanying the exhibition was a 44-page, full-color catalogue, which was the Institute's fourth catalogue devoted to art from India.