16th Yudhvir Memorial Award
Late Mrs. Kamla Mittal & Mr. Jagdish Mittal
For their contribution to Art by Late Dr. PM Bhargava, Founder& Director – CCMB and Vice Chairman of Knowledge Commission
Citation
Shrimati Kamala & Shri Jagdish Mittal were born in UP and educated in art in the Shantiniketan University founded by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.
They both started as partners and first came to Hyderabad in 1951 to exhibit their work. They then decided to get married and settle down in Hyderabad in 1953. Gradually their interests expanded and covered research and collection of art objects.
They co-authored the book ‘Bhartiya Kasida’ in 1954. Both of them have written on various aspects of Indian art in different journals and magazines of India.
Shri Jagdish Mittal expanded his interest from painting to writing on art and collecting art objects. He is a founder-member of the Indian National Trust for Arts & Cultural Heritage & a member of the Governing Board of the South Zone Cultural Centre, Tangavur. He has lectured on art in London, Los Angeles and Chicago. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1990.
Smt. Kamla Mittal has done considerabale work in wood cut and embroidery and made notable contribution to the vanishing art of Batik. Her prize winning works are to be found in various museums including the Salarjung Museum Hyderabad, Bharat Kala Bhavan, Varanasi and the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi. She has now been working with her husband in the background.
This devoted couple have been engaged in collecting a variety of art objects from all over India. By 1976 they had made a formidable collection and so set up of the ‘The Jagdish & Kamla Mittal Museum of Indian Art’. This museum has about 2000 art objects including miniature paintings & drawings, folk and classical bronze metal ware, manuscripts and calligraphy, textiles, ivory and jade etc. from the 1st Century to 1990. The museum has become an institution of world renown. Some items of the collection formed part of the exhibits of the Festivals of India in London, Paris and U.S
The museum has also a fine collection of books on art and culture.
The artistic journey of this great couple continues unabated into their 8th decade.
Considering their extraordinary achievements, unique artistic passion and contribution to the world of Indian art, the trustees of the Yudhvir Foundation feel very happy in awarding the 16th Yudhvir Foundation Award to Smt. Kamla and Jagdish Mittal. In doing so they also wish them a long life and continued success in their endeavours.
