Born in Lahore in British India, Dhanraj Bhagat acquired a diploma in sculpture from the city’s Mayo College of Art. He began working with clay while studying but it left him uninspired as he found little individuality in its amorphous nature. It was when he got his hands on wood with its uniquely tactile qualities that he felt inspired to carve and create. Learn More
Devraj Dakoji was born in Dharmaji Gudem village in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh to a family of Ayurveda practitioners. Picking herbs for his father every morning before going to school proved to be a lasting influence in Dakoji’s life, making nature the leitmotif of his art. Learn More
Exemplifying the art of the now-forgotten Bombay School, which was based on realism, or naturalism, as taught by the British, D. C. Joglekar was one of the finest artists who captured India’s panoramic landscapes along with her glorious architectural wonders, including temples, monuments, and archaeological sites. Learn More
Born on 7 February 1904, in Behala, Bengal, Benode Behari Mukherjee joined Santiniketan in 1917, and Kala Bhavana in 1919, where he was one of the first students of Nandalal Bose. A congenitally impaired vision that denied him normal schooling and resulted in a lonely childhood, brought him close to nature and had a deep impact on his art. Learn More
Born in Simla on 28 August 1931, Avinash Chandra studied painting at Delhi Polytechnic, where he also taught for a few years. His students included Paramjit Singh and Arpita Singh, who would go on to make a name for themselves in later years. Learn More
Born in Delhi in 1947, Amitava Das graduated from College of Art, New Delhi, in 1972. At the time, he was part of New Group and Artists’ Forum, and in the same decade won Lalit Kala Akademi’s national award. In 1989, he won a fellowship to study exhibition and graphic design in Germany. Learn More
Born in Baroda, Altaf Mohamedi’s interest in painting began while at the Scindia School in Gwalior under the tutelage of his art instructor Niyogi. His nascent interest was also encouraged by his elder sister and noted painter Nasreen Mohamedi. Learn More
Achutan Ramachandran Nair, popularly known as A. Ramachandran, was born in 1935 in Attingal, Kerala. He studied Malayalam literature before pursuing art at Kala Bhavana, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan. Under the tutelage of Nandalal Bose and Ramkinkar Baij, he developed both the muralist’s monumentality of scale and the intimate ambit of the miniaturist. Learn More