Born in Lyallpur in pre-Partition Punjab, Krishen Khanna grew up in Lahore. He studied at Imperial Service College, England, from 1938-42 as a Rudyard Kipling scholar. Returning to Lahore for a course in English literature at the Government College, he simultaneously took evening classes at the Mayo School of Art. Khanna briefly worked as a printer at Kapur Art Press, Lahore, before his family moved to Simla upon Partition. He worked at the Grindlays Bank in Bombay and Madras from 1946-61, subsequently resigning from his job to devote himself to art. Learn More
Forced to paint signboards at the age of eleven when his father died, Krishna Shamrao Kulkarni battled numerous early struggles to achieve a pre-eminent place in modern Indian art. Born in a village in Belgaum in Karnataka in 1916, Kulkarni engaged with modernist techniques and mediums to create a highly individuated pictorial language. 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
K. C. S. Paniker, a towering personality in the world of Indian modern art, is remembered most for spearheading the Madras Art Movement and founding the Cholamandal Artists’ Village on the outskirts of Madras in 1966. Learn More
A notable artist of the rebel Jubilee Art School that trained students in the British academic style, breaking away from Abanindranath Tagore’s Orientalist emphasis, Hemendranath Mazumdar enjoyed great artistic success for his academic paintings of sensuous women and portraits of maharajas done in European realist style. Learn More
Exemplifying the art of the now-forgotten Bombay School, which was based on realism, or naturalism, as taught by the British, D. C. Joglekar was one of the finest artists who captured India’s panoramic landscapes along with her glorious architectural wonders, including temples, monuments, and archaeological sites. Learn More
Born in Tellicherry, Kerala, Catfield Douglas belongs to the third generation of artists associated with the Madras Art Movement. Moving in the early 1990s to Cholamandal Artists’ Village, set up by K. C. S. Paniker, Douglas’s works are considered both expressionist and anthropocentric. Learn More
Co-founder of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Bose Krishnamachari was born in Magattukara village, Kerala, and came into prominence in the 1990s, after graduating from Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai, at a time when India was experiencing economic liberalisation. 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 in Nagpur, B. Prabha became an artist at a time when not many Indian women practiced it as a profession. She studied at the Nagpur School of Art and obtained a diploma from Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay, in 1955. Learn More
Born in Simla on 28 August 1931, Avinash Chandra studied painting at Delhi Polytechnic, where he also taught for a few years. His students included Paramjit Singh and Arpita Singh, who would go on to make a name for themselves in later years. Learn More
It was a radical shift for the commerce and art graduate Amit Ambalal, born in a Gujarati business family, to give up the family’s textile business in order to pursue painting. Learn More