Your talent in depicting Polo is most OUTSTANDING. I shall hang your beautiful art in my office of the Federation of International Polo (FIP). I am further pleased to present one of your precious works to my friend HH Maharaja of Jaipur for his support and love of the game of Polo.
Some very fine work, I enjoyed the exhibition and found the ideal present for my son’s birthday.
In the eyes of the horse you have captured the wild beauty of the universe before mankind.
To a person who has been researching on the History of Polo and Chaugan, it was a most rewarding experience to watch the powerful, bold strokes of someone who has sought the spirit and essence of the wonderful game, that has been so dear to the Maharajas of Jaipur and Amber for the past millennium. I wish there were more artists, (other than the miniature painters of Jaipur who make copies of old chaugan paintings) like Sujata Dere, who will make such attempts to capture this king of sport so popular a sport of kings including the Rajas of Amber like Panjaranji, Raja Man Singh I and Mirza Raja Jai Singh and the Maharajas of Jaipur like Sawai Jai Singh II, Sawai Iswar Singh, Sawai Prithvi Singh, Sawai Pratap Singh, Sawai Ram Singh II, Sawai Man Singh II and Sawai Bhawani Singh ALL of whom were great lovers, patrons and active players in their own right and who gave such important polo teams to this land. Dhoondan Amber, Jaipur and we Jaipurians give you Sujata a Standing Ovation.
The entire eclectic collection reflects an evident sense of emancipation as all of Sujata’s horses seem to break into a joyous canter, reveling in their freedom – “embodying all that is instinctual and intuitive, horses speak to that part of our souls that long for a conversation with nature” – Repose, freedom of thought and expression, the exhilaration of movement and acceleration, these are the hallmarks of Sujata’s Spirit of the Horse series. She has succeeded in placing before us a series of “powerful, muscular, free…yet poetic beings” indeed.
Throughout her oeuvres, Sujata Dere deploys the intensity of monochromatic strokes, the suppleness of her wrist, to impart the power and strength of the noble equine. Her most recent subjects emerge beyond the constraints of the picture plane, reveling in their stride and raw energy. The use of gesso heightens the sense of detail and character. The triumph for the being, as well as the draughtsman.
