1965 (AICTE Diploma)
Many of you know Nirmal Kapoor from decades and are well-versed with his art that he so passionately did over the years. You have seen him as an active and enthusiastic landscape painter through his prime years when he was at the peak of his health and form. From the many Lalit Kala Academy and Sahitya Kala Parishad awards, to putting up shows at the leading galleries of Delhi and Bombay, to participating in the annual Al FACS art camps. As his wife used to say, Nirmal had wheels on his feet and was always found hanging around with his artist friends at his favourite haunts like College of Art, AIFACS, the multiple galleries and addas at Mandi House and Garhi studios to name a few. However, the work displayed in this show belongs to the last years of his life. The years from 2016 to 2021 to be specific. It is those works only that are displayed here at this exhibition. After losing his beloved wife in December 2016 he was a bit lost and disillusioned in life for about a year, grieving her loss, and we as his kids thought he might not come out of it. But he did choose to find
an emotional outlet with the paintings that he did from 2017 to 2020. With diminishing health and failing faculties, the canvas became smaller and the A3 sketchbook replaced his easel, but nothing replaced his child-like fervor and the willingness to paint. He found a renewed energy post his cataract operation and got back to painting. But other health complications afflicted him. His Parkinson’s did take over acutely and he was on medication for this for most of his last years. What you can see in these last paintings is his motor controls failing millimeter by millimeter, brushstrokes becoming shakier as the weeks went by. But most days of the week when his health allowed, he wanted to be surrounded by art material and after breakfast he could listen to the Dev Anand and Hemant Kumar playlists and paint for 2-3 hours.