Born in 1922, pioneering modernist sculptor Ardeshir M. Davierwalla—fondly called Adi—was a pharmaceutical chemist by training; he went to school in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu, and studied pharmaceutical engineering at the Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute (now known as the Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute) in Bombay. Learn More
Vasudha Thozhur is known for her conscious art practice that seeks to give expression to conflicts which humans encounter daily in a tension-ridden contemporary society. Born in Mysore on 14 October 1956, Thozhur received a diploma in painting from the College of Art and Craft, Madras, in 1972. She received a post diploma in painting from Croydon School of Art and Design, U.K., in 1982. 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 on 15 August 1894 in the north Calcutta neighbourhood of Nather Bagan, Satish Sinha showed an aptitude for the arts since childhood. He enrolled at the Government School of Art at the age of eighteen as a pupil of Abanindranath Tagore. However, he had to give up studying within three years due to his father’s death. He joined an insurance company as an agent to earn his livelihood but continued to study painting privately. 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
Pakala Thirumal Reddy was born to a farmer’s family in Andhra Pradesh’s Karimnagar district. Defying his family’s opposition to art as a professional practice and fascinated with colour and form in his childhood, Reddy joined Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay, on a scholarship, to study painting. Learn More
India’s first creatively trained printmaker and pioneer of dry point etching in the country, Mukul Chandra Dey was born on 23 July 1895 in Sridharkhola, Bengal. He joined Santiniketan’s Brahmacharya Ashram school at the age of eleven and trained in art under the Tagore family stalwarts, becoming a close associate of Abanindranath Tagore. Learn More
Born in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Manu Parekh studied at Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay. With influences as varied as Arshile Gorky, Roberto Matta, S. B. Palsikar and Rabindranath Tagore, Parekh has always sought to explore his inner landscape through art. Learn More
Born in Nashik, Maharashtra, M. S. Joshi studied at Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay, in the 1930s. Joshi combined his training in academic realism with a sense of vitality, precision and aesthetics to reveal India’s rich cityscapes and landscapes in his watercolour and gouache works. There was immense depth in the rendering of his subjects, which included people, places, architectural elements, all done in a subdued yet textured palette. Learn More
Born in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, M. K. Parandekar was a prolific painter—he made panoramic views of archaeological sites, landscapes and portraits. His initial training was under his father, a Sanskrit scholar and painter, and he followed that up with formal study at Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay. Learn More
Born in Margao, Goa, on 21 January 1926, Laxman Pai studied and later taught at Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay. He participated in Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha movement against the British rule that led to his imprisonment. Later, he participated in the movement to liberate Goa from centuries of Portuguese rule. Learn More