Intimate impressions
Meera Mohanty

Cartier ambassador Olaf Van Cleef is in the city, armed with his paintings and fond memories of India

The Hindu, Chennai, Wed 5 October 2005


Warning: include(../press/The Cartier ambassador, who shares secrets and stories with the maharajas and maharanis and who is always asked to take a look at their precious jewels, is unimpressed when people fuss over him. <p>"I feel like Cinderella, and am scared I will promptly turn into a pumpkin the moment I get back home," says Olaf Van Cleef.</p> <p>In Chennai for an exhibition of his paintings, "A Thousand Fireflies: A Discovery of India," it's the more personal impressions of Olaf as an artist that will be up on display at Artworld-Sarla's Art Centre. At the first glance, his watercolours resemble plenty of precious stones scattered in multicoloured abundance. On closer inspection, you realise the little circles of colour, and each of the thousand little white dots have been carefully placed, as a jeweller might set his gems.</p> <p>It's a snowfall with each flake unique, a mosaic with each chip in a different hue of green. But the happy circus of colour and c in /home/olafvancleef/olafvancleef.org/archives/index.php on line 162

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '../press/The Cartier ambassador, who shares secrets and stories with the maharajas and maharanis and who is always asked to take a look at their precious jewels, is unimpressed when people fuss over him. <p>"I feel like Cinderella, and am scared I will promptly turn into a pumpkin the moment I get back home," says Olaf Van Cleef.</p> <p>In Chennai for an exhibition of his paintings, "A Thousand Fireflies: A Discovery of India," it's the more personal impressions of Olaf as an artist that will be up on display at Artworld-Sarla's Art Centre. At the first glance, his watercolours resemble plenty of precious stones scattered in multicoloured abundance. On closer inspection, you realise the little circles of colour, and each of the thousand little white dots have been carefully placed, as a jeweller might set his gems.</p> <p>It's a snowfall with each flake unique, a mosaic with each c in /home/olafvancleef/olafvancleef.org/archives/index.php on line 162