ASUDEV’s paintings restoration towards lasting legacy.
ASUDEV, a pioneer artist of Assam (13 December 1917 – 6 February 1983), whose major artworks are collected and maintained by his family through ‘ASUDEV ART FOUNDATION’, has taken up the restoration of the timeless paintings to preserve the integrity and value of the original artwork and keep the legacy of the pioneering artist of Assam, almost forgotten through time. An endeavor to help ensure that ASUDEV’s artworks remain as treasure and a lasting legacy of the people of Assam, particularly the art lovers and the artist fraternity of Assam, keeping the precious works through the initiatives of the Artist family, by his son Anutosh Deb, who has put in all his efforts to keep up the artworks of his father and also giving out the ‘ASUDEV ART SCHOLARSHIP’, with a sum of Rs 50,000 to a student domicile of Assam and pursuing his Masters in Visual Arts in any UGC & Government of India recognized University outside the State of Assam. The scholarship is presented every year on 13 December in Guwahati.
The paintings of ASUDEV had been long waiting for a professional restoration and maintenance which could be taken care by Geetanjali Barua, a trained Masters in Museology from M.S.University of Baroda, and having worked on several assignments of restoration in Gandhinagar Gujarat and also in Assam.
“I came to know about Geetanjali Barua through the social media, after seeing her posts on restoration of paintings of another pioneer Assam artist, Pranab Barua of Nagaon. It was very impressive and I decided to ask her to restore some of my father’s paintings, which she started since 1st August 2024. The restoration process being very slow paced, it takes lot of minute detailing with different treatment for different paintings. The restored works have repaired the paintings that had suffered paint loss, weakened canvas, tears, water damage, dampness and insect damages. Her detailed workmanship to alleviate the remaining original artwork to assimilate repairs in order to sustain the artist’s original work has been commendable.”
We have many old master artwork all over Assam in private and Government collection which over a period of time even if a painting is cared for and displayed properly, will still experience the effects of natural aging and dirt accumulation. This accumulation over a long period of time will damage the original grandeur and luminance of the Artwork. The unscientific lighting and the geographical dampness of this place often plays mischief in a very insignificant pace reducing the luster of the original painting. You would only come to know when the damage is almost done. The stinky smell of dampness that we often come across in museums and storage rooms without proper ventilation is the killer for art works and antiquities. Only professional restoration work could bring back vivid original pigments that were there in the artist’s original work. I am sure that many art connoisseurs in this region should be beneficial seeing the outcome of this major restoration that’s going on at AAFTAA, Guwahati maybe also viewed in person by interested art enthusiasts, on prior appointment.
ART OF ASUDEV 
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