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
Born in Dhuri, Punjab, Manjit Bawa was encouraged by his brothers to pursue art and he studied at Delhi Polytechnic from 1958-63 under eminent artist-teachers Somnath Hore, Dhanraj Bhagat, B. C. Sanyal, and Abani Sen. He moved to England in 1964, where he worked as a silkscreen printmaker and studied at London School of Painting. Learn More
Madhvi Parekh was born and raised in Sanjaya, a village in Gujarat. Though she is self-taught and took up painting only in 1964, inspired by her artist-husband Manu Parekh, art remained a part of her consciousness through childhood memories, her family’s rituals such as the traditional floor designs of rangoli, popular folk stories, and simple village life. While expecting their first child, Parekh’s husband gifted her a book on drawing exercises by Paul Klee, and soon she was taking the first steps towards creating her own art vocabulary. Learn More
In the galaxy of modern masters, one name that is synonymous with twentieth century Indian art, is M. F. Husain’s. Born in Pandharpur, Maharashtra, on 17 September 1911, Husain came to Bombay in 1937 to become a painter, where he slept on footpaths and painted under streetlights. A self-taught artist, he began his career painting cinema posters and hoardings, and, in 1941, started making toys and furniture designs. Learn More
Kshitindranath Majumdar, born on July 31, 1891, in Jagtai village of Murshidabad in West Bengal, is often referred to as a saint-artist who considered art as a form of devotion. Strongly influenced by Vaishnavism as propounded by the fifteenth century saint, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Majumdar trained in hymn singing, interpreted legends from Indian epics, and acted in productions of the theatre group owned by his father. Learn More
Born in Kerala on 15 February 1924, K. G. Subramanyan was studying economics at the Presidency College, Madras, when he joined India’s struggle for freedom, and was imprisoned and debarred from government colleges. Learn More
Born on 15 February 1939 in Faridpur (now in Bangladesh), Jogen Chowdhury’s family moved to Calcutta following the Partition. He studied art at the Government College of Art and Crafts, Calcutta, and subsequently at École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris. Learn More
Born in Bombay, Jitish Kallat’s earliest memory of art was of helping his elder sister as a five-year-old for a drawing in her biology book. By the time he was in his mid-teens, he was, in his own words, ‘persistently and obsessively drawing’. Kallat secured a degree in fine arts in 1996 from Sir J. J. School of Art. An internationally acclaimed artist, his work includes painting, photography, collages, sculpture, installations, and multimedia. Learn More
Known for exploring the mysteries of life beyond the realm of logic through his art, Jai Zharotia was born in Delhi in 1945. He studied fine arts at the Delhi College of Art from 1967-71 and went on to teach at his alma mater for over three decades. Accessible and non-dogmatic as a teacher, he was popular among students. Learn More
Born in a Bombay-based business family, J. Sultan Ali’s first act of rebellion was to leave the safety of the family trade and join sculptor-teacher D. P. Roy Chowdhury at the Government College of Art in Madras in 1945. He also studied textile design at the Madras Government Textile Institute, and pursued a photography course in London. Learn More
Born into a family of classical musicians in Cuttack, Orissa, Gopal Sanyal came to Calcutta in 1948 and took a diploma in fine arts from the Government College of Arts and Crafts in 1957. A national scholarship awardee in painting for three years from the Government of India, Sanyal was a founder member of Calcutta Painters and had exhibited at its inaugural group show at All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society, New Delhi, in 1963; he was also a lecturer in fine arts. Learn More
An ‘India wanderer’, as he liked to call himself, Gopal Ghose spent his formative years away from Calcutta, where he was born on 5 December 1913. His art training began at the Maharaja School of Arts, Jaipur. From 1935-38, Ghose studied at the Government College of Art and Craft, Madras. Once, while painting on the Marina beach in Madras, he caught the attention of C. Rajagopalachari—statesman, activist, writer and leader of the Indian National Congress—who offered to arrange his further studies abroad, which the college authorities, however, did not permit. Learn More