GoFundMe page created for acclaimed Indian-American artist in financial distress

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Kartik Trivedi is an internationally acclaimed impressionist artist who lives in Houston and whose works are in the possession of several former U.S. and foreign presidents, has fallen on hard times, say friends of the Indian-American painter.

The friends, who hail from around the United States are using social media to help Trivedi who has been described as “a renaissance man’ and ‘a genius’ by some, and whose paintings are owned by those who recognize great work.

“Over a unique lifetime Kartik Trivedi has pursued Art, Music and Painting. After four Masters degrees, wealth and fame were a step away; yet they never held any magnet for him. He has ardently pursued diversity – an uncommon use of life itself,” says a press release being circulated to make people aware of his plight.

“Kartik Trivedi now needs us.  At the sunset age of 83 and 2 pacemakers in his heart, he lost his house and all his belongings due to water pipe bursting in his home in Houston (TX). He does not have any bank balance nor any immediate family to fall back on.  Let us all be his family and contribute to enable him rebuild his house, eat healthy and keep painting forever,” the press release urges people.

The GoFundMe page created for Trivedi – https://www.gofundme.com/f/kw4cq-help-needed

The page has been set up by Ujjval Shah Karthik A.R. and the goal is to raise at least $50,000 to enable Trivedi to build back his home and live in a stable environment to continue his creative work. He will be moving to a temporary accommodation until his house is repaired, the GoFundMe page says. So far an amount of $14,613 has been raised and donors have shared sympathetic words about Trivedi’s plight.

In a March 23, 2013 interview given to Leticia Alaniz and carried on her blogspot, Trivedi speaks of his life and work.

“Kartik Trivedi is a living legend from the Northwestern state of Gujarat, in India.  He is considered one of the most fascinating contemporary artists of our time.  As an accomplished classical pianist, composer, and painter he has been honored with innumerable awards and accolades around the world,” Alaniz says in the article.

According to the article, Trivedi was born in the village of Lunsar Dec. 10, 1937, and began drawing from the age of 5. The influences of his father, a water color painter, and his mother, a folk singer, Trivedi artistic abilities were nurtured growing up. He won a statewide competition at the age of 6.

When he was 10, he began playing the harmonium, and automatically became familiar with the scales of the piano. He came to the United States in 1967, attended Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, where his music was loved by those around him at the school. He was soon giving performances Hindustani music using the piano, a unique gift, according to Alaniz. From playing in restaurants, Trivedi went on to playing at Carnegie Hall, Trivedi told Alaniz.

Trivedi, who already had a degree in Economics and Political History from Gujarat State University, earned his Masters in Art History from Case Western, and a Masters in Fine Arts from Kent State. His paintings hark back to French impressionists, who he said he was influenced by after reading about them during high school in Gujarat. Claude Monet is one of his favorites. But Trivedi also paints classical Indian style. He said his paintings hang in the homes of former U.S. Presidents, Bill Clinton and the late Ronald Reagan. There are numerous writings about Trivedi’s work on the Internet. And a book about him, entitled, Kartik Trivedi – Artist of all Generations’ was published in 2011 by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

The artist has received a multitude of awards, among them, the Hind Rattan award from the NRI Welfare Society of India, and the Rabindranath Tagore Award from Friends of the South Asian   Communities in California, according to Chron.com which also noted that Trivedi is a member of the prestigious organization, Oil Painters of America