Queen of studio pottery, Jyotsna Bhatt dies at 80

Vadodara: India’s celebrated ceramic artist Jyotsna Bhatt passed away at her residence in Vadodara on Saturday afternoon. She was 80 and had suffered a sudden spike in blood pressure resulting in a brain stroke, her family members told TOI.
The octogenarian artist, who, like her husband – Padma Shri awardee artist Jyoti Bhatt – had remained both a student and teacher at M S University’s famed Faculty of Fine Arts.
“She was doing well but suffered from a brain haemorrhage. Doctors informed that there was excessive bleeding in the brain which had affected all vital parts of her brain,” her nephew Arjun Mehta told TOI.
On Saturday morning, she was brought home from a private hospital where she was being treated with ventilator support. Meanwhile, her Mumbai-based daughter Jaii had also reached Vadodara.
“Incidentally, only a few days back, during a family conversation, Bhatt had clearly stated that if something happens to her, she should not be kept under any ventilator or tubes, stating that it would be the ‘worst thing that would happen to her’,” recalled Mehta, adding that even the doctors had opined that under ventilator she would remain in a vegetative state with a major part of her brain not functioning.
She remained unconscious throughout till she breathed her last at her own home. “It was peaceful amongst family members,” he said.
The last rites were performed at Vadi Wadi crematorium later in the day in presence of few members of the family.
Hailed as queen of studio pottery, Jyotsna Bhatt had moved from Mumbai to Baroda in 1958 to learn sculpture under legendary teachers like late professor Sankho Chaudhuri.
She married Jyoti Bhatt, a student of the first batch of fine arts and accompanied him to New York where she got trained in ceramics at the Brooklyn Museum Art School after which she started practising sculptural pottery.
In her own words, she discovered her interest in making three-dimensional figures in Vadodara where she taught and later even headed the ceramics department till her retirement nearly two decades back.
Her ceramic works included images of cats and dogs, distinctive clay toys and art works prepared from alkaline earths, amorphous moulds and matte finish glazes that earned her admirers.
The late artist had mentored and encouraged several young ceramicists during her career spanning over 50 years during which she remained part of several group exhibitions, workshops, art camps and solo shows.