Art

With one of the finest and fastest-growing collections of contemporary art and revived artisan craft, art at The Leela chronicles ancient and modern Indian narratives, by Indian artists who have created works that have found their way into private collections in prominent museums around the world. The art across the hotels reflects the continuous ethos and aesthetic sensibility that the group has nurtured over the years.

Walk into any one of our properties and your eyes will be taking in the beauty that moves you, one loving detail at a time. Enter the lobby area of The Leela in the bustling city of New Delhi and one of the several things you will register is the gleaming marble floor polished to a mirror shine. Walk anywhere inside The Leela Palace Bengaluru and acknowledge the grandeur of the impossibly high arched ceilings and the intricacies of the delicately carved walls. Observe not just the wonder of your surroundings but your own personal, almost immediate reaction to them. If there is one thing that stands out about every Leela, it is the unerring knack in eliciting a reaction of wonder. Their effect on your sensibility is five-pronged and absolutely direct.
 

When you are at a Leela property, you’re not just in a hotel. You’re in an enchanted castle of breathtaking beauty that lies not in the colour of your bed linen and in the gleam of a mahogany conference table. This is a beauty deeply ingrained in the small details. The beauty of a sculpture in a hallway, the carving on a staircase, the coloured-marble inlays on a ceiling panel, a watercolour on a wall, even the solid brass candlesticks in the bathroom suite. 

A Leela hotel is more than just a house of pretty things. It’s a mansion of art. It is an abstract brought together in a physical space. Each Leela property is married to the culture of the state that it inhabits. After painstaking research about the art culture of the state and based on that research each piece of art that fits within the theme is carefully procured.

Take for instance The Leela in Udaipur that brings to life the ancient art and craftsmanship of Mewar. In the making of this Kohinoor from The Leela treasury, dedicated craftsmen worked to give an ancient regal look to the interiors of the hotel. Forgotten Indian crafts like Tarkashi work, Tekhri and Bidri were placed at a place of prominence in an effort to preserve Indian tradition. 

At The Leela Palace New Delhi, Satish Gupta created two murals of the lotus flower using three metals – copper, pewter and gold. This was in keeping with the theme for The Leela Palace New Delhi - Let a thousand lotuses bloom. The theme was also a part of the Lobby design where lotus-shaped bridges arch artistically over water ponds. Other noteworthy art includes a 16-foot Goddess Devi fashioned from bronze also by Satish Gupta. Subhash Awchat was commissioned by The Leela and came up with a magnificent Parampara series.