Born in Bombay to eminent artist-couple Benode Behari and Leela Mukherjee, Mrinalini Mukherjee gave a new dimension to modern sculpture in India with works made in natural materials such as woven vegetable fibres of hemp. She studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M. S. University, Baroda, under artist-teacher K. G. Subramanyan, receiving a post diploma in mural design. Learn More
Possibly the most popular academic Indian artist after Raja Ravi Varma, M. V. Dhurandhar was born in Kolhapur. An early interest in drawing led his father to admit him to Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay, where he received special encouragement from its principal, John Griffiths. Learn More
Born into a family of artists in Lahore on 21 September 1897, M. Abdur Rahman Chughtai learnt to draw from his father, Mia Karim Baksh. He joined Mayo School of Art in Lahore in 1911, where Samarendranath Gupta, a pupil of Abanindranath Tagore, was vice-principal. He obtained a diploma in photo lithography from Mayo School in 1914, where he went on to become the head instructor in chromo-lithography. He honed his printmaking skills during visits to London in the mid-1930s and exhibited his works across Europe; he also exhibited with Indian Society of Oriental Art in Calcutta around this time. Learn More
Growing up in Dehradun, Latika Katt learnt to observe everything closely through the numerous trekking expeditions she took with her botanist father. She completed her bachelor’s in fine arts from Banaras Hindu University and later completed her master’s from the Faculty of Fine Arts, M. S. University, Baroda, in 1971. Interestingly, hers was the first art degree batch of the prestigious institution and she was the first female student to receive a gold medal in sculpture from the university. Later, in 1981, she received a research scholarship from the Slade School of Art, London. Learn More
Laxman Narain Taskar’s paintings mirror the ideals of academic realism introduced by the British within their art education system. Indian artists were trained in naturalism, with lessons in soft effects of chiaroscuro and the three-dimensionality of the external world. History painting, perspective, and the copying of Victorian portraits became a vital ingredient within these art schools. Learn More
Kshitindranath Majumdar, born on July 31, 1891, in Jagtai village of Murshidabad in West Bengal, is often referred to as a saint-artist who considered art as a form of devotion. Strongly influenced by Vaishnavism as propounded by the fifteenth century saint, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Majumdar trained in hymn singing, interpreted legends from Indian epics, and acted in productions of the theatre group owned by his father. 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
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
Born into a family of classical musicians in Cuttack, Orissa, Gopal Sanyal came to Calcutta in 1948 and took a diploma in fine arts from the Government College of Arts and Crafts in 1957. A national scholarship awardee in painting for three years from the Government of India, Sanyal was a founder member of Calcutta Painters and had exhibited at its inaugural group show at All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society, New Delhi, in 1963; he was also a lecturer in fine arts. Learn More
An ‘India wanderer’, as he liked to call himself, Gopal Ghose spent his formative years away from Calcutta, where he was born on 5 December 1913. His art training began at the Maharaja School of Arts, Jaipur. From 1935-38, Ghose studied at the Government College of Art and Craft, Madras. Once, while painting on the Marina beach in Madras, he caught the attention of C. Rajagopalachari—statesman, activist, writer and leader of the Indian National Congress—who offered to arrange his further studies abroad, which the college authorities, however, did not permit. Learn More
Born into a prosperous Ceylonese family of Indo-Dutch origin, George Keyt spent his childhood in an environment where Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and European cultures commingled, a premise that would later appear in his work. A self-taught artist, Keyt’s success was unparalleled with many celebrities such as actor Vivian Leigh, writer Evelyn Waugh, poet Pablo Neruda, and photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, among others, visiting him, his art, his exhibitions. Learn More
Born in Lahore in British India, Dhanraj Bhagat acquired a diploma in sculpture from the city’s Mayo College of Art. He began working with clay while studying but it left him uninspired as he found little individuality in its amorphous nature. It was when he got his hands on wood with its uniquely tactile qualities that he felt inspired to carve and create. Learn More