Bright and Early

exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts,UK,but he now holds the distinction of being the youngest artist to exhibit at the 244-year-old academy.

“We don’t want many expectations to be pinned on him or for him to feel the pressure,so we are keeping him away from the limelight. We want him to decide what career he wants to pursue,” says his French mother Alexandra over the telephone from London,firmly refusing any interaction with the artist,requests for which have been coming in aplenty since his painting’s selection. “He should not think he is a genius. Good art comes from the heart and he should continue to make art as a natural process. The fact that Max was at ease while making Atlantis is what makes it special for us,” says Alexandra.

She recalls the day Maximilian made the painting last year. Student of a private school,Max had taken leave because of ill health. To keep him occupied,Alexandra,who is also an artist,handed him oils and linen. In a couple of hours,he was back with an abstract painting against a blue backdrop,with complementary colours — blue and orange,green and red — juxtaposed to create a striking effect. It was titled Atlantis,based on the legendary Greek island.

Framed in white,the work was carefully kept in the Ghose home,until a few months ago,when,while sending in her own conceptual artwork for the consideration of the Royal Academy’s selection committee,Alexandra sent details of Maximilian’s Atlantis. Her work was rejected,but she received a letter informing her that Maximilian was part of the prestigious show. He was one of the 1,200 applicants shortlisted from 11,000 hopefuls who wished to exhibit at the world’s largest open submission contemporary art show. “It was a pleasant surprise,” says Alexandra,“When we told Max,he was excited.”

So when the doors to the exhibition opened,the mother and son were at the gate with Maximilian’s Bengali father Ronit,five-year-old brother Victor and grandmother Ananda Chanda Peace,who is also an artist. The young artist was happy with his work and insisted on a family outing that ended with a simple treat of ice cream.

Nothing has changed for him at home. Apart from the regular art class in school,there are no extra art tutorials. Like others of his age,Maximilian would still rather spend his time playing football or cricket instead of painting. Sports is a huge draw for him,and he can’t decide who to watch when it comes to a match featuring MS Dhoni’s boys or David Beckham’s eleven.

However,his regular outings to the museums continue. “He often visits galleries with me,and has seen all the major retrospectives in London,including shows of David Hockney,Van Gogh,Pablo Picasso,Joan Miro,Gerhard Richter and Paul Gauguin,” says Alexandra. His idol,she says,so far,is Indian-origin artist Anish Kapoor whose installations he saw at the Royal Academy,a couple of years ago.

The exhibition at the Royal Academy is not Maximilian’s first accomplishment as an artist. Last year,he was awarded the first prize by the Belgravia Residents Association for a photo portrait of his French cousins. For all the care she takes to keep him away from the limelight,Alexandra already draws parallels between his drawings and the works of Afro-American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. “I feel he prefers drawing more than painting,” she says.