Corporate and international diplomacy came together as Indian ambassador to Germany, S K Lamba pitched in to make the event a success. Art triumphed over attrition as the nuclear controversy which erupted during the exhibition failed to drown the cheers. As many as 110 paintings from the RPG art collection were exhibited for over a month at Leverkeusen and Monherm in Germany. This was possibly the first time that masterpieces from a private Indian collection were displayed internationally.

The exhibition, "Indian contemporary art -- the RPG collection" was inaugurated by Lamba in the presence of a distinguished gathering of businessmen, industrialists and art lovers.

Speaking on the occasion, Lamba referred toart being the cultural bridge which would bring India and Germany closer together. He said that he was convinced about Indian art being on the threshold of international recognition. Indian classical art had already achieved such recognition, he noted. The paintings for the exhibition were selected from the extensive RPG collection in co-ordination with German curators, a long-drawn out process that took longer than a year. A catalogue was painstakingly prepared, with details of the thoughts of each artist on each of their paintings displayed. In the end, the exhibition showcased a comprehensive review of the Indian art scene.

The body of work included creations by senior artists like MF Hussain, Laxman Shrestha, Anjolie Ela Menon, Bikash Bhattacharjee, SH Raza, Jehangir Sabavala, Akbar Padamsee, as well as younger weilders of the brush, such as Jitish Kallat, Sunil Padwal and Atul Dodiya.

The German media covered the event. The "Kolnischer Rundgchau" described it as an exhibition of "India's best-knownprivate collection". Harshvardhan Goenka, patriarch RP Goenka's elder son, started collecting in the 1980s, and in a decade has built up a collection of over 450 paintings by 130 artists. Goenka is no stranger to Bayer India, in fact, he is the non-executive chairman of Bayer India Ltd. The domestic corporate world has become extremely interested in art over the years. The Goenkas are one of the leading collectors, as is Tina Ambani, the wife of Anil Ambani, the managing director of Reliance Industries.