This is a feather in the cap of an artist whose first introduction to the capital was realistic rural scenes, relying heavily on Chiaroscuro. These early works, now prized items in private collections, were priced at a modest Rs 5,000 each for a work of 20 inches x 30 inches in 1990. The price rose sharply to Rs 8,000 within a year. By 1995, he had begun to shift away from Chiaroscuro, using planes of luminous colour. The price was now Rs 22,000. Today, with far greater confidence in his palette and a remarkable sense of composition of line, colour and texture, Maity has secured an award in Mumbai this time. And water colours of this size are now Rs 40,000 each.Over the last decade, Maity's work has maintained a steady growth above the 25 per cent we expect froma good artist normally. It is evident that his art has become something to collect and invest in. But there is more to it.

Without discounting his mastery over technique and disciplined hard work he puts into everything he does, there is his capacity to read contemporary taste. He has, therefore, built himself a powerful base with works that deal with light and shade, a palette reminiscent of the folk art of western India, but, most of all, a self-critical or self-mocking imagery that is suitable tongue-in-cheek without being radical. Though, if one looks at it closely, it is not as innocuous as it seems at first glance. Take his `Guard who would not speak'. Here he clearly notes the irrationality of religious symbolism and talismans that are meant to guard property and obviously fail to do so. But one does get the feeling, however, that he recognises the capacity of beauty to protect itself, a capacity that makes the visual image more powerful than the written word, despite it being lessexplanatory.

Talismans and religious paraphernalia too are superficially the subject matter of Manu Parekh's continuing journey along the path of sublimated eroticism that has allowed him, over the years, to challenge the stereotypes of male and female, sacred and profane, the landscape and the abstract and the figurative and symbolic, in a way that forces one to think differently. His latest exhibition at the Lalit Kala Akademi shows him an artist on the move even at 60, which is not something one can say for so many of his contemporaries whose pace has definitely declined.

Moreover, with some excellent works priced at only Rs 20,000, a figure that many of those years his juniors are pricing their work above, one can discern that the artist is appealing to the future, the young buyer who is able only to pay this price. Clearly there are works at this price that are actually worth a good deal more, if one compares them with some of his masterpieces in the show that are ten times the price. Here is anartist who seems to have understood what democratisation in art calls for: a constant search to be original, an essential transparency and simplicity of expression, and the desire to reach out to the widest audience. This is a sure formula to success.

The opposite is the hallmark of spurious art, mystification. Unfortunately, I have seen plenty of it lately in a host of catalogues drowned in a half-digested verbiage. Obviously some artists believe the less intelligible the catalogue, the greater its impact. This may be true for the culture-vultures, but hard nosed buyers have learnt to distrust goods whose packaging is more complicated than the goods themselves. It reflects a lack of artistic confidence, scares away buyers, and should, at all times, be avoided.