D. P. Roy Chowdhury was born in the town of Tajhat in present-day Bangladesh. He learnt sculpting from Hiranmoy Roychoudhuri, painting from Abanindranath Tagore and life drawing and portraiture from E. Boyess. Equally  at  ease  with  plaster and paint, Roy Chowdhury evolved his skills in casting in bronze, and executed paintings that were an amalgam of  the Chinese  technique, the Japanese wash process and his own scratching method, though  his  early  paintings  bore  the influence  of Abanindranath  Tagore’s technique  and  style  depicting  realistic imagery with imaginative fair.

Roy Chowdhury moved to Madras from Bengal as Superintendent of the Madras College of Art. He chose his figures from the  crowd  in  the  streets,  mingling freely  among  men  and  women of  a less  advantaged class in preference  to studio  models.  Chowdhury’s range of sculptures included a large number of busts, life-sized statues and larger-than-life-size works. In recognition of his merit and contribution to art, in 1937 the British Government honoured Roy Chowdhury with a Most Exalted Member of the British Empire (M.B.E).

In  1958  the  artist was  awarded  a  Padma  Bhushan  by the  President  of   India,  followed  by  a doctor  of   letters  by Rabindra Bharati University  in 1968.  Chowdhury’s works are included in major national and international collections as well as displayed at public places across India.