Swaraj Art Archives
Established in 2013, Swaraj Art is an archive created to document, preserve and showcase the art of Mr. Vijay Kumar Aggarwal’s Ancestral Collection. Born into a family of avid collectors, starting with Seth Jai Prakash who has bought some Kalighats, Bengal school paintings, decorative prints etc. from Calcutta, Mr. Aggarwal, too, has always had keen interest in art. Over the years, he inherited various works which were housed in Seth Mukand Lal’s hotels in Mussoorie and Dehradun. A patron of art for over 40 years, Mr Aggarwal has silently pursued his passion for visual medium through his travels and his life spent in India and overseas, first from 1960-65 while studying in America, then while working in as Swiss Company(Marc Rich) from 1976-96. He would bring back artefacts and paintings with him from local galleries, collectors and painters which eventually became the base of the collection. Though his love for Bengal school is no secret, the collection houses atleast on work by almost every Indian artistfrom the pre-independence era.
The mission of the archive is to promote the arts by sharing the collection with scholars, academicians and art lovers for the purpose of research through letters, photographs, books and paintings on Indian Art. The building itself has been designed to be art and environment-friendly. We have done our best to maintain the art by installing double-glazed windows to maintain the temprature within the building, using LED lights to minimize the UV exposure and acid-free mount for storage. The archive aims to hold periodic exhibitions, seminars and talks to explore India’s history through the visual evidence in paintings. Through various initiatives, Swaraj will support schools to introduce art to the children and establish art appreciation as an integral part of their education