Niece Heena Kapoor told TOI that she passed away on Monday morning due to a sudden heart attack. “His last work was an oil painting by Kaifi Azmi. It was a commissioned work. My uncle even painted it on the night before his death,” he said, recounting how he used to paint his uncle on Jesus Christ. I grew up watching it work. Mother Teresa lays on the canvas for hours. “He turns 71 on January 3 this year.”
His fans also remember him.burqa‘, ‘Victim’ and ‘Prostitute’ series throw light on social issues. ‘Shades of Time’ celebrates 75 years of Indian cinema Kanan Devi, Madhubala to Konkona Sen Sharma. Then, there was ‘Great Expectations’ which starred Amitabh Bachchan.
The son of Padma Shri recipient Salik Lakhnavi, Kapoor inherited his creative streak from his father, who was an eminent Urdu poet. Although he was born in Lucknow, Kolkata was his home. An accidental fall when he was barely six months old confined Kapoor to a hospital bed for 12 years. Those years in the hospital, where he only had books and crayons for company. During his hospitalization, his father arranged for him to learn painting.
Friends and relatives at Wasim Kapoor’s central Kolkata home.
As a child, Kapoor developed an interest in drawing Jesus while he read biblical stories. When he began painting, the barbed wire that usually ran across Jesus’ face gave his works an unconventional touch. Kapoor, a Muslim by faith, was liberal in his upbringing. When asked about his interest in portraying Jesus, he always said that his strokes were not meant to evoke a religious outlook. Jesus was, to him, an embodiment of pain. “His interest in portraying Jesus and Mother Teresa spoke a lot about his secular mindset. His signature style evoked a sense of pain and empathy. I also liked his tonal drawing of Jesus with red crayons on paper. There was no rough color, but just a soft tone that was enough to recognize it as his work, even if his signature was absent,” said veteran sculptor Bimal Kundu, who has known him for over 30 years.
When asked why he was so attracted to portray the mother, Kapoor used to say: “Every time I saw her, she left a trace of her goodness in me, something that transcends all known limits of virtue. done and merged into the sublime.”
Artist Sanatan was inspired by “surrealism” in the work of Dinda Kapoor. “Although he opted for figurative works, he did not explore the many layers through his strokes. At times, I noticed that he was experiencing a deep sense of pain and suffering. I doubt it was his life. May be the result of their own personal trauma of coping with physical challenges. This is especially true of all of their actions of Jesus,” Dinda said. He is particularly fond of Kapoor’s early works. “I clearly remember a half-naked woman he had painted long back. Though the woman seemed to be from an affluent background, her face reflected the trauma of the lower strata of the society,” he said .
Both Dinda and Kundu tell that Kapoor was a very good person. “I will remember him in all my exhibitions. When the CAA-NRC protest took place at Park Circus, Wasim-da asked to go there. There was a canvas where we all painted to express solidarity. Fearless in his thoughts, Wasim-da was always ready to help,” Kundu said.
Social activist Saira Shah Haleem described Kapoor as a “humanitarian”, adding that she is always available to support any good cause. “He was above religious dogma and could criticize the fanatics on either side of the fence. This is how we connected,” she said.
He will also be missed in Kolkata’s social circuit. “Wasimji was very close to our family for decades and was a regular at all our parties. The sight of him walking in the trademark black suit is etched in my memory. Soft-spoken and always smiling, he was the perfect gentleman.” Industrialist Sanjay Budhia.
,