Born in Bombay, Mohan Samant showed early proficiency for both music and art. A lifelong player of sarangi—an Indian bowed, string instrument—Samant chose painting as a career and obtained a diploma from Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay, in 1952. In the early 1950s, he was influenced by his teacher Shankar Palsikar, a painter of the traditional school, but moved soon towards an expressionistic mode in an attempt to discover his own style, fusing the expressive, the primitive and the abstract in his art. 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
A. M. Mali was born in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, to a professional artist-father who painted mythological illustrations on the walls of local temples. Mali’s initial training in painting was under the well-known landscape artist Abalall Rahiman. Learn More
Krishnaji Howlaji Ara, a founder member of the Progressive Artists’ Group, was born in Secunderabad on 16 April 1914, but ran away to Bombay as a child. Much later, his skills as a painter were spotted by Austrian artist and art director of The Times of India, Walter Langhammer, who encouraged him in his artistic pursuit. Learn More
A painter with a strikingly elegant bearing, Jehangir Sabavala was born on 23 August 1922 in an affluent Parsi family in Bombay and grew up in an intellectually charged environment. He studied at Elphinstone College, Bombay, before graduating from Sir J. J. School of Art in 1944. Thereafter, he studied at some of the leading art schools of Europe—The Heatherly School of Art, London (1945-47), Académie André Lhote, Paris (1948-51), Académie Julian, Paris (1953-54), and Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Paris (1957). Learn More
One of India’s most loved artists, Jamini Roy is remembered for forging a unique Indian aesthetic for modern art by bringing together elements of traditional Bengali folk art and Kalighat patachitras, rendered in clean lines and earthy colours. 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
Born in Lahore in present-day Pakistan, Jagmohan Chopra is best remembered as a father figure in Indian printmaking who initiated an entire generation of artists into this genre of art. Learn More
Known for establishing the multi-arts complex, Bharat Bhavan, in Bhopal, and for foregrounding tribal art on the Indian art horizon, Jagdish Swaminathan took up the arts professionally later in life, despite an early aptitude towards drawing and painting. Learn More
Born in a Bombay-based business family, J. Sultan Ali’s first act of rebellion was to leave the safety of the family trade and join sculptor-teacher D. P. Roy Chowdhury at the Government College of Art in Madras in 1945. He also studied textile design at the Madras Government Textile Institute, and pursued a photography course in London. Learn More
One of the earliest pioneers of European modernism in Indian sculpture, Hiranmoy Roychaudhuri studied under E. B. Havell at the Government School of Art, Calcutta in 1905. He was also one of the earliest Indian artists to go to England to study art; he went to the Royal College of Art, London, in 1910 to train in sculpture. Learn More
Born in Lothal in Gujarat, one of the most important sites of the Harappan civilisation (3300-1300 BCE), Himmat Shah’s long-term engagement with terracotta traces its roots to the ancient antecedents of his birthplace, seen especially in his sculptural Heads. Learn More