Paresh Maity usually enjoys his moments of solitude when he paints his gorgeous, luminescent-eyed Indian women. But come November, he will have to share his space a bit — the artist will have a bevy of inquisitive tourists at his private studio in CR Park, eager to know more about his water colouring skills and to watch him paint.

A clutch of tourists from the UK is coming to India on a painting holiday and will drop by at Maity’s and a host of city galleries such as Vadehra Art Gallery, Gallery Espace and Bodhi Art Gallery. They will also traipse across the land to see private art collection such as the Tata’s in Mumbai and meet India’s most famous art brand MF Hussain.

Maity, however, is only happy with the itinerary. ‘‘It’s going to be an enriching cultural exchange. When a visitor goes to Europe to see art, he is exposed to soft and dark colours. India’s palette is going to be rich and bright,’’ he says.

‘‘Indian contemporary art has grown in importance and is generating a huge amount of interest in the UK,’’ says Yasin Zargar, the India-born managing director of UK-based Indus Tour that is organising the sabbatical. ‘‘The idea is to showcase India through art.’’

While Indus Tours offers specialist tour packages — geology trails in Uttaranchal and painting holidays in Ladakh and Darjeeling, where travellers get to combine museum visits and painting sessions in quiet locales — this is the first time modern art has been added to the programme. Zargar says the concept of an Indian gallery tour has been on the drawing board for some time, but materialised this month after an exhibition was organised by Sumukha owner Pramila Baid at London’s Quilon Restaurant. Called Feast of Indian Art, it featured works of 27 Indian artists; two pieces were auctioned - a Maity (for 8,000 pounds) and a Laxma Goud (for 1,000 pounds).

But Sunil Biswas, manager, tour, of Delhi-based International Ventures & Travel India, is unsure about the prospects of such tours. ‘‘We haven’t got any series booking on painting holidays and requests have so far only been on an adhoc basis,’’ he says.

( www.financialexpress.com)