S. L. Haldankar was born in Sawantwadi, a princely state in the Bombay Presidency of the British Raj, or present-day Maharashtra. His talent for the arts was spotted by his school headmaster and Haldankar received a scholarship to study at Sir J. J. School of Art, from where he took a diploma in painting in 1903. Learn More
Born in Mysore, S. G. Vasudev completed his diploma in fine arts, from Government College of Art and Craft, Madras, in 1968, where he was deeply influenced by artist-teacher K. C. S. Paniker. While still a student, he won Lalit Kala Akademi’s national award in 1967. Learn More
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 on 31 October 1958 in Bangalore, Rekha Rodwittiya is an artist aligned with the Baroda School whose work engages with gender politics, socio-political subjugation, human degradation, violence and discrimination, all filtered through the prism of self-questioning. Learn More
Born in Patiala, Punjab, in 1953, Ranbir Kaleka earned a diploma in painting from Punjab University’s College of Art in Chandigarh. He spent the next few years teaching at Punjab University and College of Art, New Delhi, before leaving for London on a Charles Wallace scholarship to study at Royal College of Art from 1985-87. He stayed on in London for several years and returned to India in the late 1990s. 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
Born in 1910 in Pabna, in present-day Bangladesh, Radha Charan Bagchi graduated from College of Arts and Crafts, Calcutta, in traditional Indian art, oil painting, and Western academism. Abanindranath Tagore, Mukul Dey and other Bengal masters were major influences but Bagchi evolved his own artistic style. In 1951, he joined Kala Bhavana, Santiniketan, as teacher, officiating twice as its principal in subsequent years. 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 Madras, R. B. Bhaskaran is best known for his series on cats, and on couples, as also for his rejection of the ‘restrictive’ need to establish an Indian cultural identity through his works, which he feels is ‘an instinctive by-product of one’s work’. 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