DAY 11

February 7, 2025

Our final day in Delhi!

Today we have artists’ and gallery visits scheduled. This should be another fun day w Birgid. Once again this is a huge city. We average 3/4 of an hour drive between stops with the longest being almost 1 1/2 hours. Traffic generally moves it’s the distances that drive up the time.

Our first stop is at the studio/home of Martand Khosla an artist already in our collection. We had never met him before. What a delight. Smart and articulate we liked him very much almost immediately. We learned his wife is from New Jersey and they have 2 young children. They love to travel – their last adventure was to Peru. He was trained as an architect. I took a really good photo of Martand. We bonded.

The Martand Khosla piece in our collection.

His studio was full of both two-dimensional and three-dimensional work – much of it reflecting his architecture background. I fell in love with a steel cylinder – cut on the rolling edges with images. When filled with brick dust and rolled across the floor images appear. He has cylinders in three different shapes. I asked Birgid to pursue two of them.

We also discussed Casa Cerrito, the artist residency that we share with LeBaron’s in Puerto Vallarta. He is interested. I also promised to send both the “Chica” and the “Baragan” books. I feel like we made a new friend.

Next we stopped at Gallery Espace – a regular stop in Delhi for us. They featured watercolors that were new to us by an older Indian artist Amit Ambalal. Unfortunately the ones we liked were sold. I moved on up to the Gallery’s new 2nd floor space. There were some great pieces – a few by artists we already collect.

The piece Karen liked – already sold.

On to a really fine small shopping area that we have visited in the past and a bit of lunch + shopping at the Delhi location of our favorite leather shop Nappa Dori. This is a much larger and cooler space than Mumbai with a smart cafe in a really great looking space. I loved the waiter’s aprons which they normally sell but were out of stock. I had my first Affogato – a shot of espresso poured over ice cream (a toast to Mae). Delicious!

Across is another location of Gallery Nature Morte, where we purchased our Gupta Tree. A young female artist came in especially to show us her work installed there. To say that she was full of life and beautiful is way understating the experience. As Todd often quotes a movie line “I think we got us a real live wire here” The pictures I took of her and her glass mosaics plus huge fabic pieces tell just a small part of the experience. India born, MFA from Parsons in NYC, she presently resides in New York. Most of the show is sold but we ask Birgid to inquire anyway.

Our final stop is a gallery we know in a new location. They have a show of Arun KS, an artist we already own and have met on a previous trip. The working this show is very good but we both agree ours is better.

This is the Arun KS piece we own

Back to the hotel for a cocktail in our favorite bar, Pactala Peg, where they treat us as long lost friends. And for dinner we return to “The Spice Market”. Really really great Asian cuisine. 

What a marvelous memorable day! We love you Delhi! We love you India!

R