KOLKATA
An artist’s signature may command a fortune, but who recognises the talent before the world learns its name? For Mamta Nath, Founder-Director of The Lexicon Art, discovering tomorrow’s masters is as compelling as celebrating today’s. At her gallery in New Delhi’s Connaught Place, established reputations share the spotlight with unfamiliar names, united by one simple conviction: great art deserves to be discovered.
An initiative of Delhi Press Magazines, The Lexicon Art occupies a distinctive position in the capital’s cultural landscape. Located in Connaught Place, it has developed into a meeting ground for established artists, emerging practitioners, seasoned collectors and people taking their first tentative steps into the art world.
Its exhibitions reflect an appetite for different artistic approaches, bringing paintings, sculptures and varied forms of expression into conversations that extend beyond the gallery. Several of its curated presentations have attracted attention in India and internationally, while its digital presence allows audiences to discover artworks beyond geographical boundaries.
For Nath, collecting has always involved looking beyond immediate recognition. Together with Divesh Nath, she developed The Lexicon Collection and The Lexicon Reserve, two initiatives that reflect a sustained interest in documenting artistic talent and preserving significant works.
The collection’s beginnings were closely associated with publishing. Contemporary artists received exposure through interviews and reproductions of their paintings in Woman’s Era, introducing their work to readers who might otherwise have had little contact with galleries.
In 2011, this editorial endeavour resulted in 101 Contemporary Indian Artists, a coffee-table publication combining artworks with interviews and essays about the people who created them. It offered readers an opportunity to encounter artistic personalities alongside their paintings.
The Lexicon Reserve represents another dimension of this commitment. Built through acquisitions and contributions from artists, it includes works by Bisan Paul, Vijender Sharma, R. K. Yadav, M. K. Puri and Nand Katyal, among others. Its holdings offer a record of different artistic temperaments and interpretations of contemporary Indian life.
What gives The Lexicon Art its particular character is the relationship between collecting, exhibiting and introducing artists to new audiences. The gallery recognises that appreciation often begins with familiarity, and familiarity requires opportunities to encounter art without intimidation.
There is pleasure in recognising a celebrated artist’s work. There is perhaps an even greater pleasure in discovering someone before their name becomes familiar.
