If you are wondering what makes this museum the only one of its kind in the country, then let us tell you, its charm lies in the location.
Tucked away in the residential locality of Jangpura, a corner home with an attached studio, is a multilevel structure that was built with the intention of creating large scale sculptures, a gallery for viewing and a personal space for new ideas.
Located opposite the Lala Lajpat Rai park, the studio is built on a corner plot with greenery on the two sides. It has proven to be a haven for the artistic soul that still resides here.
The history of the space can be dated back to 1952 and then 1967. First in 1952 when the artist was studying in the United States of America. He met with Prime Minister Nehru at a convention for Indian students.
Nehru promised the young man a working space if he created art for his own, new country. Perhaps, it was a part of the nation building that drew young talented Sehgal back to India to become a teacher of the arts. It was then that the land was presented for his studio space along with two other upcoming artists, in a colony of refugees.
It wasn’t till 1967 that the family lived there. Based out of the quaint house in Vinay Marg, the family moved to the Jangpura property in 1965 before leaving for Brussels for a year.
The family returned in 1967, opening the doors to their home and studio, that would later become Amar Nath Sehgal Private Collection.
It was on 26th April, 1968, that the President of India, Dr. Zakir Hussain, inaugurated the studio, J23.
The studio of an artist has been underrated in the equation of discovering its creator. The structure describes the possibilities the artist promised himself, a space where his experiments that would define his temperament, the materials he could delve into.
The sacristy of its environment developed a man who later went on to become one of the finest artists of the Indian sub-continent. Rajan Sehgal, Founder Director of the Collection wrote “It was the refuge of a solitary soul, an artist – my father – who had experienced the trauma of the Partition and who carried within him the anguish and hardships of dislocation that followed.
It was a place where his past experiences coalesced with his hopes for a better future to influence his creative urges and shape his works.” The history this studio has enveloped in its walls sings the song of a 40-year journey. The studio gave him the much-needed respite from the world outside.
“A space where his imagination had soared boundlessly for decades now seemed to envelope him in a protective, nurturing embrace of familiarity and solace.
Not unexpectedly, my father’s deteriorating health also reflected in the state of the studio as all attention has shifted from the space to the man who occupied it.
Indeed so intimately were they conjoined that it was inconceivable that one could thrive while the other was withering away. It was only appropriate that he breathed his last on 10th December 2007 in his studio – the perfect script.”
