Naina Dalal
Modern
Naina Dalal’s profile pictures throughout her life portray an image of a beautiful woman who appears to be quite and fitting into a perceived ‘traditional mould’ of an ‘ideal wife, mother’, but her works reveal her real self!
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Naina Dalal was born in 1935. She did her Bachelors and Masters from Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda. Soon after she got married to fellow artist, who is recognised as a leading figure in art history today, Dr. Ratan Parimoo. We see the beginning of her individual expression already - she retains her maiden name, and we are speaking of the early 1950’s. In the 1960’s and 1970’s she travelled with Dr. Parimoo to England and then New York. Here again she made some bold choices; she starts studying lithography from Henry Trivik at London Poly-technique. In 1974, she studies etching under Margot Love-Joy at Pratt Graphic Centre, New York. This training sets her on a path as printmaker. Early in her career she works largely in lithography, and then she goes on to making etchings. Here is a woman / artist discovering her own path, outside of the social conventions, and ‘accepted’ areas of interest and study.
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Though Naina Dalal is primarily celebrated as a printmaker today, her paintings also carry a distinctive style. Regardless of her choice of medium, her subjects and themes almost always revolve around women and their journey through various stages of life. Although her works are not self-portraits, Naina narrates her story in a manner that resonates with her audience, especially women. She paints women as solitary figures or within a group or as mother and child…these are themes which women experience and grapple within all societies. Naina also expresses her boldness in a genre that is still not accepted easily (when painted by women themselves) - the female nude body, in 1950s, at a time when women’s role was being redefined through a domestic situation, well before the aggressive feminism of the 1960s and 70s.
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Through Naina’s works we get a glimpse of how effortless this form of expression is for her. She does not glorify the female body, painting its imperfections with grace and depth. It is this innate quality that reveals in her works, be it prints or paintings, which reveals her true self – perceptive, free and connected with the audience, across decades and centuries.
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Naina has had several solo, group and a retrospective show of graphics to her credit, in India and internationally. Her last show was a touring exhibition across various art colleges in India in 2019. She has also received several awards and fellowships. Her works are in public and private collection in India as well as in New York, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Berlin Museum of Indian Art to name a few.
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Naina Dalal lives and continues to work in Vadodara.
