Search results for: 'Art a'

Among artists, Velu Viswanadhan is often referred to as ‘Paris’ Viswanadhan because he made the French capital his home. Born in 1940 in Kollam, Kerala, Viswanadhan joined Government College of Fine Arts, Madras, in 1960, where he studied under K. C. S. Paniker, and along with him became a founder-member of the Cholamandal Artists’ Village. Learn More

Born into a family of painters in Kolhapur, Vasant Anant Mali studied art professionally at Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay, in the 1920s. It was here that he grasped the nuances of painting through academic realism. Working mostly in the medium of watercolour and oil, Mali keenly observed how some of his teachers, including Walter Langhammer, worked with various tools and applied bold brushstrokes with knife. Mali’s work had a forcefulness, a depth that was unique and could be seen, particularly, in portraits done by him. Learn More

Born in Dacca (now Dhaka) in present-day Bangladesh, Suhas Roy had a difficult childhood after the early demise of his father. Yet, he pursued his passion for the arts with the support of his mother and studied at Indian College of Arts and Draughtsmanship, Calcutta, where he would eventually return as college principal. Learn More

Born in New Delhi on 4 June 1961, Subba Ghosh has carved a niche for himself with art that overturns reality to show a mirror to society’s lived hyperreality, through paintings, prints, animation, installations, puppets, and video art. Ghosh’s mirror throws not just a passive light on reality but also makes a critical, political comment on issues such as the relationship between the state and its subjects. Learn More

Renowned for his versatility as painter, sculptor, muralist, and architect, Satish Gujral was born in Jhelum in pre-Partition Punjab on 25 December 1925. His parents nurtured his inclination towards the creative arts while he was recovering from an accident as a child that cost him his hearing and speech. He trained at Mayo School of Art, Lahore, and briefly at Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay. He also came in contact with the Progressive Artists’ Group but parted ways to chart his own course in search of an Indian modernism. Learn More

Born in 1899 in the village of Verka near Amritsar, S. G. Thakar Singh showed early aptitude for the arts by drawing on the walls of his home with coal. With no formal training, he went on to excel in the academic style of painting, rendering stunning landscapes, portraits and still-lifes. He apprenticed under local artist Mohd. Alam and moved with him to Bombay when the latter found a job as a stage artist with a theatre company. Learn More

A graduate of Delhi College of Art, Rameshwar Broota has been an art teacher throughout his career. He was a lecturer at his alma mater before moving to Jamia Millia Islamia University and then Sarda Ukil College, eventually taking over as head of department at Triveni Kala Sangam, a position he has held since 1984. Learn More

Born on 25 April 1908, Prosanto Roy joined Brahmacharya Ashram at the age of thirteen, under Rabindranath Tagore’s tutelage. He took to art at a young age, copying the paintings of the great masters. After initial training in art under a European teacher, Roy joined the Tagore residence at Jorasanko in the 1920s. Groomed by Gaganendranath and Abanindranath Tagore, he worked on stage design and illustrated student magazines. Learn More

The search for abstraction in Indian art in the early years of Independence was born out of a desire among artists to attain an independent idiom of modernism. Rooted in the country’s philosophical and religious aesthetic, Prabhakar Kolte is among the leading practitioners engaged in this quest. A master of poetic and metaphysical abstractionism, Kolte received a diploma in painting from Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay, in 1968. Initially, he freelanced as an illustrator, also working as a designer at Bombay Dyeing. Learn More

Born in Meerut, Navjot Altaf studied fine and applied arts at Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay, from 1967-72. A painter, sculptor, installation artist, and filmmaker inspired by Marxist ideologies, Navjot has consciously questioned various frameworks of social norms and created art to bring focus to the plight of the depressed classes. Learn More

N. R. Sardesai was born in 1885 in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, and completed his early education at the Ratnagiri School of Industry. Here, he studied carpentry and drawing in 1906, before joining Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay, for formal training in art. Thereafter, he began work as a drawing teacher in a school in Fort, Bombay. In 1915, he had a short stint as a drawing teacher at his alma mater too. Learn More

Born in Bombay to eminent artist-couple Benode Behari and Leela Mukherjee, Mrinalini Mukherjee gave a new dimension to modern sculpture in India with works made in natural materials such as woven vegetable fibres of hemp. She studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M. S. University, Baroda, under artist-teacher K. G. Subramanyan, receiving a post diploma in mural design. Learn More