Search results for: 'Story of bengal art pa'

Born on 3 March 1919 in Madras, S. Dhanapal trained under sculptor-teacher D. P. Roy Chowdhury at the city’s Government College of Art and Craft. He joined the faculty of his college after completing his studies, and, in 1957, when K. C. S. Paniker was principal, Dhanapal was appointed the head of the sculpture department. He eventually became principal of his alma mater in 1972. Learn More

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

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

Prokash Karmakar learnt painting at his father, artist-teacher Prahlad Karmakar’s atelier, till the socio-political turmoil of the 1940s and his father’s early death put an end to it. After his matriculation, Karmakar joined Government College of Arts and Crafts, Calcutta, but quit soon thereafter for reasons of poverty. In between, he designed book covers and worked as an illustrator for his livelihood; he even joined the army but absconded after two years, driven by his desire to paint. Learn More

Born in Dacca (now Dhaka) in present-day Bangladesh, Prodosh Das Gupta studied sculpture under Hiranmoy Roy Chowdhary at the Lucknow School of Arts and Crafts (1932-33), and under D. P. Roy Chowdhury at Government School of Art and Craft, Madras (1933-37). Over the next two years, he studied bronze casting at LCC Central School, London, and sculpture at Royal Academy of Arts, London, and Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Paris. He returned to India in 1940 and set up his studio in Calcutta. He subsequently taught at M. S. University, Baroda, and at Calcutta’s Government College of Arts and Crafts. Learn More

An early Indian abstractionist who forged his own vocabulary, distinct from the dominant forces that gripped India’s art community in the early years of Independence, Piraji Sagara came to be known for his collages made of wood relief amalgamated with abstract paintings. 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 Calcutta, Nikhil Biswas was an indefatigable art activist and a firm believer in collective action. A founder member of Calcutta Painters Group, Chitrangshu Group, and Society of Contemporary Artists, Calcutta, Biswas was committed to bringing about technical innovations as well as transformations in contemporary artistic thought. Learn More

Nandalal Bose’s growth as a painter is closely associated with the Tagore family. Hailing from Munger in Bihar, Bose was fifteen when he came to Calcutta to continue his education, where his passion for art ultimately took him to the Government College of Arts and Crafts, to be groomed by Abanindranath Tagore from 1905-10. Learn More

Born in Karachi, a year before it became part of Pakistan, Nalini Malani’s art, unsurprisingly, is built on observing the struggles and strife of people, socio-political changes, and how she observes this. More recently, the lockdown in India on account of the corona pandemic and its impact on migrant workers has impacted her work, even prompting her to post short animations on social media platforms. Learn More

Born in Shivpur Diyar in Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh, Muni Singh studied at College of Art, Lucknow. In 1963, he received formal training in fresco-making from Banasthali Vidyapith, Rajasthan. A contemporary of Badri Nath Arya, R. S. Bisht, and Sanat Chatterjee, Singh’s preferred medium was watercolour. He mastered the miniature style of painting—Mughal, Rajput, and Pahari—and translated it into his own idiom and technique. Learn More

Moti Zharotia was born in Delhi and remembers taking impressions of patterns carved on potatoes in childhood as his earliest artistic activity. He loved creating works of art but dreamt of becoming a lawyer, and therefore graduated in political science from Delhi University. Learn More