A watercolour nude and still life by Ara

While KH Ara is a name that steadily makes an appearance at art auctions these days, if you want to seize an opportunity to catch an exhibition of his works, and maybe even buy a few, now is the time. "If you look at an Ara work, you see a mix of rawness and refinement," says Qaroon Thapar, evoking the paintings of this noted name among the Bombay Progressives. Thapar, the director of a Colaba-based gallery called The Viewing Room, has curated 22 works by Ara, all of which are part of a private collection.