Art Musings, a gallery in Colaba, had two birth mothers and three founding fathers. While Shanti Chopra, 82, and her sister Kasturi Wadhwani, 77, paid for the space, artists Sayed Haider Raza, Francis Newton Souza and Maqbool Fida Husain adorned its walls. "They gave us the shoulders on which we stand so strongly today," says Sangeeta Raghavan, Chopra's daughter, who runs the studio today. Chopra is on last-name basis with India's biggest artists because she was among their earliest patrons. "My husband and I always collected a little bit of art here and there," says Chopra. "Once we went for a show at Birla Matoshri, and they had an auction of a nude by B Vithal. In those days, '3,500 was a princely sum, but I bid for it. He [Vithal] asked, 'How can a lady bid for a nude? I would like to meet her.' So I met him and then, of course, I became very good friends with him. One day he told me, 'Shanti, you need to begin [a gallery].' Then Souza came into the picture, then Anjolie Ela Menon, Husain saab. We had a great time starting it and I don't think we have ever looked back."

Artists at Art Musings: (left to right) Jayasri Burman, Paresh Maity, Jitish Kallat, Anjolie Ela Menon, Laxman Shreshtha, Reena Saini Kallat, SH Raza, Sujata Bajaj, Baiju Parthan and Samir Mondal

This year, though, the gallery is looking back. Having completed two decades, Art Musings is going to host a weeklong exhibition in Jehangir Art Gallery, with 20 new works by the living artists on its roster. After which, it will take the exhibition home. "We will bring four artists to this space [in Colaba], and every two months the show will change," says Raghavan. "We have four basic viewing galleries, so each artist will get their own room. At the end of the year, we will release a book, which will show works from our private collection of Husain, Raza, Souza, KG Subramanyan and Ram Kumar. [The artists] who really gave us our feet."

For the three gallery owners, their artists have been like kith and kin. Paresh Maity, who signed on with Chopra, says, "My journey with them began before Art Musings was even born. So, I am part of the family: not only with my art, but with my whole being." Smriti Dixit, who signed on with Raghavan, says, "We started off like any artist gallery-relation, in which the artist is looking for places to show their work. Today, they are my extended family. Now, when any new idea occupies my mind, the first people I share it with are my sister and Sangeeta."