Mr. Bharat Dalal who at the age of 27 spent 5 years (1982 to 1987) in Los Angeles creating these six massive art works after which he returned to India. He was an exemplary painter of Indian origin who possessed a scientific bent of mind, coupled with a philosophical outlook that made his massive paintings look lifelike, and the technique with which they were made makes it almost impossible to replicate. During his lifetime, he felt an unexplained, yet strong connection with the “universal genius” Leonardo da Vinci. He had Leonardo’s visions, which inspired him to tell a tale through his series of 6 humongous art-works, called ‘The Fossilized Passions of Da Vinci’ which took him over five years to complete.

According to the Artist “‘The Fossilized Passion Of Da Vinci’ is about, those Emotions, Expressions and Experiences of Leonardo that were trapped in Transition, during his pursuit of solving the Universal Equation. These paintings are a result of, “The Resurrection of those Passions.” Elaborating on his non-duplicable, extremely time-consuming technique, “The Essence of Emotion and Experience determine my [Artistic] Expressions. The substantial efforts that go towards Actualizing such an Expression are but quite Effortless and independent of time. Art is The Precision of an Idea presented and Craft is the technique required to Achieve such a Precision.” Not since The Great Art of Renaissance, has there been such a sublime optimization, of The Relative & The Absolute, of Relativity & its Purpose, of Perceptions & Perspectives, of Passion & Knowledge resulting into their natural union, that inevitably defines The Art of Bharat Dalal.

Bharat says “The Fossilized Passion Of Da Vinci’ is conceptualized based on METAMORPHOSIS, Just as a stone which has wonderous forms and patterns hidden inside it, but which are not apparent before polishing it, so have I realized the extraordinary nature and working of the soul, but which was not apparent before its purifications.”

A journey a soul undertakes to reach its goal, to completely be one with the WHOLE TRUTH of which we are just a small part is shown in these series. Bharat related very closely with Da Vinci to such an extent that going beyond mere study and interpretations, he was on the verge of ‘KNOWING‘ the artist. He worked on the paintings with an ‘I was there’ and sometimes ‘I was he’. Therefore, it was no surprise that he chose Da Vinci’s paintings as a vehicle to present the journey each soul undertakes, and the slow transformations of the soul as the journey progresses takes step after step, purifying itself, till there is nothing left except being one with the final TRUTH. Then the journey is complete- Nirvana.

He termed these paintings as “Totalistic”, having evolved from all “isms” of human endeavor. For him these 6 paintings were the personification of the classic balance. They combined the Renaissance inventive and the abstract abundance, to find a counterpoint signature in these paintings. The paintings are masterpieces of philosophical (albeit factual) enunciations. So moved are we by his deep spiritual belief, that for once we are compelled to look at life in its universal totality. They break the barriers of time (as if it did not exist and which is where he wishes to lead us), to express what was, what is and what will be.

The shroud of enigma surrounding the life of Leonardo Da Vinci, has in all its finality been shattered and more than explained in these paintings through “The Language of Relativity”

He presents his experience in a way that the past, the present and the future converge to become an interactive process not only between the artist and the viewer, but eventually the viewer and his own conscious, It thus becomes an inward journey for any individual “open” to partake in this mysterious process of the universal metamorphosis.