Taj Hotel's Jewel Regains Its Former Luster
MUMBAI, December 18, 2010 - Asia Society India Centre Corporate Members and Patrons were provided a curated tour of the newly restored art collection at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel by Mortimer Chatterjee, who manages the hotel's art and led the restoration of the collection, and Laxman Shreshtha, a prominent artist whose work is featured in the hotel.
The event was the inuagural tour of the Hotel's Taj Art Walk, which will soon be open to hotel guests. Among other topics, Chatterjee and Shreshtha described the process of rescuing visual art from effects of fungus, fading color, and the fire and water damage caused by the terrorist attack in November 2008. They explained that damaged artwork can take about two months to restore, and that the services of specialists are needed in order to recreate lost colors and repair damaged canvases.
For his part, Shreshtha said he was delighted with the hotel's restoration of his old art works, saying that the process helped bring out many colors and define the paintings better.
Opened in 1903, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel is a historic site in Mumbai. Its art collection has recently been re-arranged, restored, and catalogued, and features prominent contemporary artists like MF Husain, Jehangir Sabavala, and Laxman Pai.