My Magnificent Obsession:
Collecting The Works Of Bhupen Khakhar*

New York based art collector Brian Weinstein writes about his passion for the works of late Bhupen Khakhar prior to a non-commercial exhibition of Bhupen’s works from his collection at Guild Art Gallery, New York.

Brian Weinstein

In 1981 the guide to the Hindu temple in Karnataka expected my question about the erotic sculptures on the wall; his answer was immediate and simple:  “Sex is part of life.  We believe it should be portrayed openly and directly.”

Thirteen years later I heard Bhupen Khakhar answer the same question with the same words.  He expanded this idea by saying that his portrayals of sexual intimacy, particularly between men, were not voyeuristic or pornographic because all the relationships expressed in his paintings and prints were based on love.  Later he explained that the act of creating the erotic works and the paintings about disease  released him from his inner passions and torments. Bhupen’s honesty and his figurative and narrative style of strong colors, appealed to me as did the spiritual themes of many of his works, erotic and non-erotic.

After an initial meeting with him in January 1994 I returned to India every year.  I began to purchase works from Bhupen or from galleries to which he had committed his work for a show.  They were mainly water colors and etchings.   He never offered an oil painting, and I do not think I could have afforded one anyway.   Aside from financial restrictions, there were no limits to my collecting guidelines.   He explained his methods, and I sat for hours watching him work.

My collection grew quickly, and I filled the walls of two rooms so I could look at all the works every day.  I now feel surrounded by provocative beauty. 

I learned a small bit about the artist’s mind and process of creativity – how he portrayed erotic love  and the non-beautiful people he liked best; how he depicted his pain and the pain of others undergoing chemotherapy.  The door to a new world opened even wider for me as I met some of Bhupen’s friends. Baroda has become my favorite destination in India – second only to Mumbai -  because of the vibrant art scene there.
   
Bhupen died in 2003 as the prices for contemporary Indian art were surging.  Although I believe his income increased substantially after our first meeting in 1994, he never benefited from the high prices his works now fetch.   I still have no large oil work, and doubt I shall be able to afford one.   Every small work that I do manage to find reminds me of the words of the temple guide and of the man who, firmly rooted in Indian culture and well aware of modern artistic trends in the outside world, honestly expressed his emotions and ideas for all to see and feel.

 In so doing he helped me expand and transcend the limits of my own feelings and imagination.

* Copyright by Brian Weinstein.  Excerpt from my essay prepared for the catalogue, “Bhupen Khakhar 1934-2003”, a non-commercial show at The Guild Art,  New York, 20 March – 31 March 2007