An art lesson with Raza

To fresh eyes, it would appear that artist Syed Haider Raza used the geometry box as much as the acrylic colour box. His abstracts, especially his Bindu series, are deceptively simple. Take a few squares, triangles and circles and fill them with cadmium reds, yellows and oranges, and you have a Raza. It is child's play. Rishita Chandra, who founded Know Your Art to supply art kits for kids, was thinking along the same lines.

When Chandra's daughter turned five in 2015, Chandra designed a Piet Mondrian kit, his geometric paintings rendered in line drawings, as a return gift. "They were learning about primary colours, and I thought Mondrian would be the simplest," she says. When she noticed the interest among her daughter's peers, she knew she could give them what she didn't receive: an art education.

The Raza kit

A self-taught graphic designer, Chandra was in the publishing industry for 15 years, before going rogue (read: freelance) in 2011. Since then, she's been working with art galleries and artists, designing catalogues and websites. As a teenager, she did learn sketching, painting, charcoal work and calligraphy with Bhakti Shah at Pedder Road, but just as a hobby. "Every day after college, I used to paint. My art teacher had a good collection of books. The [Katsushika] Hokusai books in her house were an eye-opener.

Because being self-taught [in art history], you have to start [somewhere]. It's not as easy as being taught in a university. I pursued economics [in college], so I had to take the long route and do a lot of research myself. Many schools are bringing it into their curriculum today, but during our time, there was nothing. Understanding the history of art is very important. I figured that when I was 22; I didn't want that to be with my daughter." In that sense, Chandra has given her daughter an early start. "She was five when she said, 'This is a Jamini Roy.' I was like, 'I've put in my work and it's reflecting.' She can manage very intricate work. She tested the Raza kit for me, and I trust her judgment, because of the little experience I have put into her."

Rishita Chandra

In May 2016, Chandra registered Know Your Art officially, because "the interest was there. So, I thought, 'Why not try getting the copyrights and do it formally?'" In two-and-a-half years, she has released nine kits, all of which are stocked at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. They reflect her personal taste: European incredibles such as Mondrian, Van Gogh and Matisse; Asian masters such as Hokusai, Raza, Roy, Telangana artist Thota Vaikuntam and Sri Lankan Senaka Senanayake; and American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein. Each set comes with five to eight art works, aimed at different age groups. While four-year-olds can attempt Mondrian and Raza, the elaborately-dressed figures of Vaikuntam and the birds of paradise of Senanayake might prove a challenge even for adults.

What proved to be a challenge for Chandra was securing the rights. "For one kit, I have to go through multiple agencies." Some, such as the foundations of Van Gogh and Matisse, immediately agreed, while others took their own sweet time. "Some artists are worried about, 'What if there's mass production?' But a lot of them see the larger picture. Senaka's permission was overnight. It all depends upon how much the artist cares about spreading the knowledge to children."

A child attempts Van Gogh's Bedroom in Arles. Pics/Bipin Kokate

Like Vaikuntam tells us over email, "I used to teach art at a school many years ago and love working with kids. When I was approached, I was very enthusiastic about this as it was for children. When I was a kid, there were no such kits. I used to simply paint and draw what I felt like and saw. But with kits like this, I think it would have been easy. It paves a path to understand techniques and design."

For instance, along with developing motor skills, the kits encourage kids to think for themselves. "I like it when kids do it in their own style," says Chandra. "The idea is to be creative, not to copy. Children can surprise you with their creativity. Sometimes, I'm just wowed. Like when I saw [a kid do] The Great Wave by Hokusai in the style of Van Gogh. It had thick impasto strokes. Another time, a kid painted The Starry Night [by Van Gogh] and one star was very bright, and she said, 'It's Venus, the morning star.'"

What: Art kits for kids, which include Indian masters such as SH Raza, Jamini Roy and Thota Vaikuntam
Price: Rs 575
Order: On knowyourart.in, or buy them in the gift shops at Bhau Daji Lad Museum or CSMVS

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