If you live consistently with silence, your illusions become your reality” – the words displayed on a wall at Bikaner House set the tone for a recent exhibition dedicated to Satish Gujral. A commemorative postage stamp marking the artist’s birth centenary was unveiled by Jyotiraditya M Scindia, Minister for Communications, recently. Released by the Department of Posts in association with Raseel Gujral Art Legacy (RGAL), the stamp pays tribute to the painter, sculptor, muralist, architect and writer.
Navin Ansal and Raseel Gujral at the event
‘These stamps are small in scale and vast in their reach’The stamp features a rare self-portrait of Gujral, painted around 2010, depicting the artist holding a paintbrush. Drawn from one of only four self-portraits he created during his lifetime, the artwork has remained in the private collection of Raseel Gujral Ansal. In her address, she said, “Today we celebrate the life of Satish Gujral – a life lived with extraordinary courage, unwavering integrity and a relentless commitment to the arts. There is something uniquely powerful about commemoration through a postage stamp. These stamps are small in scale and vast in their reach. They quietly carry the nation’s memory from hand to hand, and from one generation to the next.”
Nandita Das and Jyotiraditya M Scindia
He used to say every expression demanded its own medium: Raseel Gujral The event also marked the opening of 100 Years of Fortitude, an exhibition of limited-edition Satish Gujral centenary stamp collectibles. Explaining the exhibition’s title, Raseel said it reflected her father’s resilience. She recalled that Satish Gujral was never confined to a single discipline. “He was creatively restless. Once he mastered a new skill, he didn’t abandon the others. Painting, sculpture and architecture all existed together. Every expression demanded its own medium, he used to say,” she shared.‘Satish Gujral worked with intuitive rhythms’Rajiv Lochan, former director of the NGMA, who curated one of the first retrospectives of Gujral in 2006, reflected on the latter’s artistic practice, saying, “In my mind, I have often called Satish Gujral a conceptual thinker and a holistic creator. He worked with intuitive rhythms, listening to his inner voice. He worked with several diverse materials and sensibilities.”
Dr Rajiv Lochan
(L-R) Martand Singh, Chitrangada Raje and Vikramaditya Singh
(L-R) Nirvan & Mriganka Singh Sandhu and Tikka Shatrujit Singh
We were close friends: Jatin DasReflecting on their close friendship, Jatin Das said, “Satish was much older than me, but we were very close friends. Every time he had a get-together at home, he would invite me. I miss him very much.”Das also recited a poem he had written in memory of Gujral: “He picked the word and he said it before my utterance finished… Sharp, observant and witty… With a sense of mischief in the corner of his eyes, he pulled my legs and hands while teasing me with no malice…”
Leena Singh and Jatin Das
‘His life is a testament to human determination’Jyotiraditya Scindia remembered Satish Gujral as “more than an artist”, saying that he turned “canvas, stone, brick and empty spaces” into living works of art. Recalling his family’s association with Satish Gujral and his wife, Kiran Gujral, the minister said that the artist turned personal adversity into an entirely new visual language. “What appeared to be a limitation became the foundation of extraordinary artistic value,” he said.
Manjari Chaturvedi, Priya Kapoor and Sharon Lowen
Vicram Sharma and Vir Munshi
Bina Ramani and Naresh Kapuria
