Vasant

 

Vasant Chinchwadkar is a freelance professional artist who has spent part of his time in his home town in India and part in Essex in the UK. He has stayed at Jacobs Farm, Goldhanger Rd., Heybridge in the summer months from the 1970s onwards and has returned to his home town Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India each autumn.

In the 1990s on, while staying at Jacobs Farm, Vasant submitted many of his work in the Goldhanger Art Society Autumn shows and became a regular visitor to the shows, spending time discussing techniques with other local artists. In this period he was also a regular visiting lecturer and gave demonstrations of his skills at the Further Education College at the Friary in Maldon.

Vasant was born in Indore in 1934, the son of a lawyer, and was educated there. His mother was an artist. He trained at the Indore School of Art and gained a First Class Diploma in Fine Arts from Sir Jamshedji Jeejeebhoy School of Art (affiliated to University of Mumbai, then known as Bombay). Vasant first exhibited with the Spectrome group of artists in Bombay and Delhi and then many other locations in Central India. His first one-man exhibition was held in Dehli in 1963. He came to England in 1968, in his words "to seek a fortune in art".

Vasant met up with Essex sculptor John Doubleday in India 2010 while John was studying Indian metal working techniques and an online video of their meeting is available at the end of this page. They have since worked together in Essex and given several local talks.

His work has been widely shown in exhibitions in both India and in the UK. Today his work is in private and public collections all around the world including: Canada, U.S.A., Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Japan. Some are known to be in the art collection of Trinity College, Oxford.

 

Examples of Vasant’s English style of paintings

 

      

 

more examples of Vasant’s English style of paintings are available here...

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Examples of Vasant’s India style of paintings

 

      

 

many more examples of Vasant’s India style of paintings are available here...

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these paintings were found on various art gallery websites in 2023 and 2024

 

This large mural painted by Vasant is inside an Essex barn and measures approximately 5m x 3m...

 

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Vasant’s Facebook page has more of his works on show at...

https://www.facebook.com/vasant.chinchwadkar/photos

 

Past exhibitions   - some of these were one person shows, some were group shows

 

1960s Water House Gallery, London - each year until 1972

1970   Galleria Maldon

1970   Trinity College - Cambridge with John Doubleday

1971   Wiverhoe Art Club

1972   Dusseldorf Galleria

1973   Project 8 Gallery, Colchester

1974 "Critics' Choice', Wivenhoe Art Club

1975   Halesworth, Suffolk

1976  West Gate House. Long Melford, Essex

1977  Braintree District Arts Council

1979   Little Baddow Hall Arts Centre

1979   Sea Dog Gallery, Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex

1981   Ingastone Art Gallery

1981   I.A.U.K, Art Centre

1982   Between Two Cultures, Barbican, London

1982   William Morris Art Gallery

1986  “Artists in Essex” Waltham Abbey Museum

1988   Chappel Galleries, Essex

1990s Goldhanger Art Society shows

1990  “Artists in Essex”, Waltham Abbey Museum

1997  Waltham Abbey “Pictures from around the world”

1998  Witham Library “Vasant’s Indian views”

 

Newspaper articles     select to enlarge these articles...

 

Sculpture

 

 

Exhibition posters

 

  

 

   

 

Magazine illustrations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Videos that include Vasant

 

 

First National Art Camp at Indore in 2008...

“London based Indian artist Mr. Vasant Chinchwadkar

is seen the making of charcoal drawing”...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3sGmMC4Tzo

 

 

 

Vasant interviewing John Doubleday at Indore in 2010...

https://youtu.be/COFrfFTxf5Y

 

 

Vasant as the guest speech at Indore  in 2016...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoiRBRhRYwc

 

 

 

Vasant presenting awards to young artists at Indore in 2016...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5adG7vdWx0

 

 

 

Vasant presenting awards for poetry in the Jal Auditorium, Indore in October 2021...

https://www.facebook.com/bhalu.mondhe/videos/639742674076296

(the video is 1hr 52mins long - and an FB account is needed to watch it)

 

 

Vasant is on the stage

at 30mins into the video

  

            Vasant presents                            Vasant giving a talk

          gifts at 1hr 10 mins                             at 1hr 30 mins

 

Extracts from the web relating to Vasant    ( links may become out of date in time, see... those magnificent links )

 

from... https://smartify.org/artists/vasant-narayan-chinchwadkar

Vasant Narayan Chinchwadkar is a painter and collagist artistically educated in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. Trained at Indore School of Art (affiliated to University of Mumbai/Bombay), he then gained a first class Diploma in Fine Arts from Sir Jamshedji Jeejeebhoy School of Art, Mumbai. Chinchwadkar first came to England in 1968, in his words "to seek a fortune in art" and subsequently worked as a freelance painter.

 

from... https://www.sulisfineart.com/catalog/product/view/id/90192/s/vasant-narayan-chinchwadkar-b-1934-contemporary-watercolour-nude-figures/category/207/

Painter and collagist born Vasant Narayan Chinchwadkar and artistically educated in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. He has shown widely in India and in London at the Horizon Gallery as well as in the provinces. In 1997 he held a two-person exhibition "A World of Difference", with Ingrid Pollard at the Epping Forest District Museum. He  exhibited in England in 2001 at Chelmsford Museum and Art Gallery Essex. His work is in the collection of Trinity College, Oxford.

 

from... https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/5490570.chelmsford-heybridge-indian-images-for-art/

2001 - Artist Vasant Chinchwadkar, who draws much of his inspiration from Indian mythical images, has launched an exhibition of his work at the Chelmsford Museum in Oaklands Park in Moulsham Street, Chelmsford. Vasant, who has lived in Heybridge for more than 20 years, has been successfully exhibiting since 1963. He has work in private collections across the world. A total of 35 pieces, including vibrant oil paintings, watercolours, pencil and charcoal drawings are on show.

 

from... https://www.maldonandburnhamstandard.co.uk/news/9281706.maldons-annual-art-trail-has-something-for-everyone/

2011 - A standout feature of this event is a talk by internationally-renowned artists Vasant Chinchwadkar and John Doubleday, entitled Tribal Art of India, which starts at 6.30pm at Goat Lodge Farm, Goat Lodge Road, Great Totham. The one-hour talk, which will include an insight into indigenous bronze casting, as well as the deities, laws and practices relating to Indian painting and crafts.

 

from... https://www.artprice.com/marketplace/2317984/vasant-narayan-chinchwadkar/print-multiple/three-horses

Vasant Chinchwadkar, who goes by the name of Vasant, was born in India in 1934 and was the son of a lawyer. He first studied painting at the School of Art at Indore and later at the Sir Jamshedji Jeejeebhoy School of Art in Mumbai/Bombay, where, in 1962 he gained a first class diploma in Fine Arts. Vasant exhibited with the Spectrome group of artists in Bombay, Delhi and many other places in Central India.  His first one man exhibition was held in Dehli in 1963. Since this time he has had several one-man exhibitions and his work can be found in private collections  throughout India and the United Stated.

Inspired by the ancient culture of India, Vasant's work retains a freshness which is totally pure and sincere, simple at first sight, yet full of the excitement of a detailed drawing. Vasant transfers this skill and the use of colour, making each original a living statement of the rich Indian cultural heritage.

 

from... https://www.johndoubleday.co.uk/india

John Doubleday in India 2010/2011 - The experience had a profound impact on John personally, on his work and on the artist’s personal response, as an outsider, to the experience of India; an experience encouraged by his son who had worked in Indore.

 

Photo Portraits of Vasant

 

         

           

 

 

DWN 2025

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