Like a parent who cannot single out his favourite among his progeny, Kumar Mangalam Birla refuses to pick his favourite from the many pieces of art in his collection.
For Kumar is an earnest art patron who believes art to be a private matter of choice. And the variety of artists figuring in his collections speak for it.
While established contemporary names like M F Hussain, Raza and Sabah figure prominently in his collection, newer ones like Pradeep Shinde and Prabha have a place of honour too.
While some of his collections, like the two Hussains, bedeck his office, some are to be exhibited in the newly opened Birla Academy of Art and Culture.
But surely, the set of paintings he is most emotional about are the ones painted by his father, Aditya Birla.
He was a reproduction artist par excellence and did a series of 13 paintings, most of which were reproductions of classical paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, Eugene de Blass, M F Hussain, Yoshi Kazu Shivakawa and B Prabha.
Aditya Birla did most of these paintings when his son, Kumar, was unwell at the age of six. It was his way of seeking solace and distraction from the mental agony he was going through because of his son's near-fatal illness.
Aditya Birla was most reluctant to display these paintings and it was only in 1990, on the insistence of Kumar, did he allow 12 of these to be exhibited at the Aditya Birla exhibition, at the B Vithal gallery.
As people who know Kumar closely vouch for, art runs in this Birla scion's blood. His grandfather B K Birla had one of the best collections in the country, his father Aditya Birla also had a vast private collection.
However, Kumar has also inherited the gift of painting from his father.
This is a well-guarded secret and is known only to some of his closest friends. He is an avid painter, as is testified by the many canvases adorning his farmhouse.
Kumar also set up a Birla Academy of Art and Culture in Mumbai in 1996, which has an identity that is in continuum with the institution in Kolkata, set up by his grandfather.
