French artist Maite Delteil’s paintings explore the charming colours of the countryside, perhaps drawn from the environment she was brought up in France. “Nature filled my every waking hour,” says Delteil, whose ongoing exhibition in Delhi, The Yellow Room, boasts of around 30 works that have never been exhibited before. Most of them date back to the late 1960s.
“The paintings feature women as the sole subjects. Of course, nature also plays an important role. I have always been close to nature and maybe that is one of the reasons I keep going back to nature in many of my works. Also, if I were to rate my own art, I would say it is contemplative. I like being alone and my art portrays that,” says Delteil, who divides her time between Paris and Delhi.
Unlike most artists, Delteil likes going back to an art work again and again. “There are a few paintings in this exhibition that I have taken years to complete. I would carry these with me when going to France and would keep adding bits and pieces to it. In fact, there are a few in the exhibition that I would like to rework on. To me, an art work is almost never complete,” she adds.
The preview to the exhibition will also showcase a short film by Joy Banerjee on Delteil titled Maîte Enchanted.
Delteil was born in 1933 and is married to contemporary Indian artist Sakti Burman, who she met while they were still studying art. While growing up she did not really think she would become an artist. “It was because of my father that I am what I am today. Since his dream of pursuing art remained unfulfilled, he let me pursue art and encouraged me,” says she. Delteil elaborates more on why her father could not pursue art. “His family believed that if my father becomes an artist, he will waste his life drinking and in the company of other vices,” laughs the octogenarian. In an age, when there were very few women artists, even in the hotbed of culture, France, Delteil was encouraged to pursue her hobby and craft and turn it into a profession.
In 1963, she married Burman and was introduced to India and its cultural landscape—or as she likes to put it, “Bengalis and their culture. I found them very similar to the French.” Her first solo exhibition took place in 1964 and there was no looking back.
Delteil is part of one of the most famous art families in India—besides her husband Sakti, her daughter Maya Burman is also a celebrated artist; as well as her niece Jayshree Burman and her husband, Paresh Maity. She believes that India and its art has evolved from the time she first set foot in the country. She rues the fact that when she first saw Indian art or rather observed Indian artists, she realised that they rarely, if ever, played with colours. “Everything was rather bleak—black, brown, white and the occasional ochre,” she says. But today, she believes the colour palette has enhanced to include a variety of shades.
“India always had artistic potential, and it is coming to the fore now,” she smiles.