Born Gulam Rasool Dar in a Shia Muslim family in Srinagar in Kashmir on 20 June 1929, the artist took on his wife’s Hindu name ‘Santosh’ as his own, in a move opposing patriarchy and religion. His father’s death forced a young Gulam to work as a signboard painter, papier-mâché artist, and weaver. He learnt to paint watercolour landscapes from Dina Nath Raina in Kashmir before studying under N. S. Bendre at M. S. University, Baroda, on the recommendation of S. H. Raza. In Baroda, he produced a large body of figurative and landscape works, mainly in the cubist style. Learn More
Eric Bowen was born in Allahabad on 3 May 1929 and received a diploma from the College of Art, New Delhi, in 1959. Though he joined the short-lived Group 1890, his journey to be a part of the significant art movements in the 1960s took root when he and Paramjit Singh started the Group Unknown, a Delhi-based collective of young artists and sculptors. Learn More
Devi Prasad Roy Chowdhury was born in Tajhat (in present day Bangladesh) in 15 June 15 1899. He learnt painting from Abanindranath Tagore, life drawing and portraiture from E. Boyess, and sculpting from Hiranmoy Roychoudhuri, with later training in Italy. Equally at ease with plaster and paint, he evolved his skills in bronze casting, and executed paintings that were an amalgam of the Chinese technique, the Japanese wash process, and his own scratching method, though his early paintings bore Tagore’s influence. Learn More
A self-taught artist, poet, storyteller, and an active member of the Communist Party of India, Chittaprosad was born on 21 June 1915. He drew inspiration from village sculptors, artisans and puppeteers. Learn More
Born in Bengal in 1917, Bimal Dasgupta was raised by his uncle, a government employee posted in Delhi. His uncle’s family did not support his ambition of becoming an artist, so he joined Calcutta’s College of Arts and Crafts in 1937 with his father’s help. Learn More
Born in a middle-class Bengali family on 21 June 1940, Bikash Bhattacharjee gathered his visual and intellectual ideals from the politically charged atmosphere of Calcutta during his growing up years. Learn More
Born on 7 February 1904, in Behala, Bengal, Benode Behari Mukherjee joined Santiniketan in 1917, and Kala Bhavana in 1919, where he was one of the first students of Nandalal Bose. A congenitally impaired vision that denied him normal schooling and resulted in a lonely childhood, brought him close to nature and had a deep impact on his art. Learn More
Born on 22 July 1929 in Secunderabad (now in Telangana), Badri Narayan began his career in the late 1940s working with ceramic tiles and mosaics, and moved later to using ink, pastel and watercolour as his primary mediums. Learn More
Born to a family of artists in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, on 3 June 1890, Baburao Painter was a self-taught artist who excelled in both oil painting and sculpture. His skill in painting earned him the nickname ‘Painter’. His excellence in traditional sculpture is evident in the large statue he made of Mahatma Gandhi, installed in Kolhapur. Learn More
Born on 10 September 1890, at the Tagore mansion in Jorasanko, Calcutta, Asit Kumar Haldar was initiated into art by a traditional patua, Jhareshwar Chakravarty. Learn More
Born in Calcutta on 30 June 1959, Ananda Moy Banerji completed his B.F.A. in painting from the College of Art, New Delhi, in 1980, where he also studied printmaking under acclaimed printmaker Anupam Sud. Learn More