Born in Baler in Rajasthan’s Sawai Madhopur district in 1905, Ramgopal Vijaivargiya developed a keen interest in painting at an early age, initiated by a wandering sadhu of the Ram Snehi sect. He joined Maharaja School of Art and Craft in Jaipur, where Asit Kumar Haldar was principal. 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 in 1902 in Tripura, Ramendranath Chakravorty went to the Government College of Art in Calcutta in 1919 but left it in 1921 to join the newly founded Kala Bhavana at Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan. Soon after graduation, he began his teaching career, first at Kalashala at Andhra National Art Gallery in Machilipatnam, and then at Kala Bhavana. He then joined Government School of Art, Calcutta, as a teacher in 1929, when Mukul Dey, the pioneer of dry point etching in India, was its principal. In 1943-46, Chakravorty was the school’s officiating principal when he set up its graphics department. Eventually, he became the school principal in 1949. Learn More
Ram Kumar was born in Simla on 23 September 1924. Completing his master’s in economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, he attended evening classes at Sarada Ukil School of Art, where he learnt the ‘Western style’ of painting under Sailoz Mookherjea. Learn More
Born in Amritsar on 17 November 1926, R. N. Pasricha grew up in Delhi. Graduating in science, he worked as a typist to earn his livelihood. But, it was painting that drew him—a passion since childhood— and he enrolled for night classes in art. He honed his skills in painting under the guidance of artist Abani Sen. Learn More
Born in Amritsar on 23 February 1935, Paramjit Singh studied art at Delhi Polytechnic from where he completed a diploma in 1958. About a decade later, he went to Norway to study printmaking at Atelier Nord. Learn More
Hailing from an artistic family based in Bombay, P. Khemraj was fascinated with manifestations of all things fine in every aspect of life. On completion of his training in drawing and painting at Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay, Khemraj, a fine violinist, left for New Delhi to learn the sitar from Pandit Ravi Shankar. 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
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
Born in Suri, Bengal, in 1937, Lalu Prasad Shaw obtained a diploma in painting from the Government College of Art and Craft, Calcutta, in 1959. Despite training in Company School art, traditional Kalighat pats and Ajanta cave frescos, Shaw evolved his distinctive style to work in watercolours and oil. His teachers were some of the leading artists of the time, such as Gopal Ghose, Rathin Maitra, and Maniklal Banerjee. Learn More
Born in Lyallpur in pre-Partition Punjab, Krishen Khanna grew up in Lahore. He studied at Imperial Service College, England, from 1938-42 as a Rudyard Kipling scholar. Returning to Lahore for a course in English literature at the Government College, he simultaneously took evening classes at the Mayo School of Art. Khanna briefly worked as a printer at Kapur Art Press, Lahore, before his family moved to Simla upon Partition. He worked at the Grindlays Bank in Bombay and Madras from 1946-61, subsequently resigning from his job to devote himself to art. 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