While the Tatas have been able to reclaim the airline, a big question hangs over the massive treasure trove of art and memorabilia, known as the Maharaja Collection. The over 4000 artworks still remains in the possession of the government and possibly face an uncertain future.
What will happens to Air India’s massive collection of art – paintings, posters, murals, textiles, cartoons and sculptures, bronze, porcelain pieces, wooden carvings and knick-knacks, amassed over a period of six decades ?
While the Tatas have been able to reclaim the airline, a big question hangs over the massive treasure trove of art and memorabilia, known as the Maharaja Collection. The over 4000 artworks still remains in the possession of the government and possibly face an uncertain future.
Among the artworks, are works by renowned artists like MF Hussain, Jatin Das, Anjolie Ela Menon and VS Gaitonde. It also includes
works by renowned Indian cartoonist, the late Mario Miranda, as well as advertisement posters by US artist, Peter Arno, cartoonist for the New Yorker magazine.
A lot of it has been languishing in neglect in Air India offices in India and abroad. While the bulk of the art treasures are in Mumbai, quite a number of these art works lie scattered across erstwhile Air India offices around the world, including New York, Washington, Perth, Rome, Tokyo, Paris, and London.
Effort are on to bring them back to the country although that will be a tedious task considering the fact that they were sent out 30 to 40 years ago.
Without proper maintenance and care, the artworks have also suffered pilferage from time to time by staff and officials while under the government’s ownership.
What is even more odd is the fact that there are no official estimates of the entire collection. The collection kept growing, keeping pace with the growth and expansion of the airlines. A couple of years ago an attempt was made by the airlines to make a detailed inventory of the collection. But it didn’t seem to make much headway.
What is even more odd is the fact that there are no official estimates of the entire collection. The collection kept growing, keeping pace with the growth and expansion of the airlines.
Mumbai-based art historian and conservation architect Meera Dass, writing a book about the collection says in previous times, the airlines tried to project itself as a representative of India’s culture and heritage. “The collection served that purpose — to present India as an ancient civilisation, but with a modern outlook.”
“He (JRD Tata) was a great nationalist and he used the airline’s booking offices outside India to expose the country’s art and artists to the world,” Dass adds. But everything changed with computerised bookings as a lot of the old offices closed down.
Although a lot of these paintings were commissioned or bought, others were obtained in exchange for air tickets to artists travelling abroad. MF Husain had once said in an interview: “They (Air India) would take the paintings and give free air tickets in return. As a result, the artists could
travel to Czechoslovakia, Hong Kong, Paris. I did about four or five trips.”
Salvadore Dali was commissioned to make exotic ashtrays to be given as complementary gifts to first class travellers. In return, Dali asked for a baby elephant, which was duly procured from the Bangalore zoo and sent to him.
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