What does the richest man in India have to do with art in Chicago? Nita Ambani of course! Nita the wife of Mukesh Ambani-founder of Reliance Industries who is worth more than $20 billion, is a mother of three children, philanthropist and Founder/Chairperson of Reliance Foundation- the lead sponsor of “Gates of the Lord: The Tradition of Krishna Paintings,” the exhibit that recently opened at the The Art Institute of Chicago.
In her honor and to celebrate the opening of the exhibit in Chicago, a reception and dinner underwritten by Sunita and Dev Tandon of the Kini Group, was held in the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Building at the Art Institute of Chicago.
The intimate gathering included Douglas Druick, President and Eloise W. Martin Director of the Art Institute of Chicago, Madhuvanti Ghose, Alsdorf Associate Curator of Indian, Southeast Asian, Himalayan and Islamic Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, Goswami Bhupesh Kumarji (Shri Vishal Bawashri), and Mr. Praful Shah of Garden Silk Mills and the TAPI Collection, a major, lender to the exhibition.
- Sunita and Dev Tandon of the Kini Group
- Nita Ambani, Douglas Druick, Goswami Bhupesh Kumarji (Shri Vishal Bawashri)
Gates of the Lord: The Tradition of Krishna Paintings, at the Art Institute of Chicago, is a glimpse into one of the world’s most intimate religious traditions Pushtimarg, a Hindu denomination from Western India. It includes drawings, pichvais, paintings, and historic photographs borrowed chiefly from two major private collections in India, the renowned TAPI Collection of Praful and Shilpa Shah (Surat, India) and the Amit Ambalal Collection (Ahmedabad, India). The exhibition takes visitors through a year in Nathdwara, where the daily worship of Shrinathji is characterized by the changing seasons and a bustling festival calendar. Gallery by gallery, visitors are introduced to the pichvais used as backdrops for Shrinathji in his shrine, each uniquely suited to a particular season or festival. The exhibit runs through January 3, 2016 in Regenstein Hall at the Art Institute of Chicago (111 South Michigan Avenue).
photos: Robert Kusel/Art Institute of Chicago
