Gulammohammed Sheikh

Born in Saurashtra, Gujarat, on 16 February 1937, painter, poet, art critic and historian Gulammohammed Sheikh has been a seminal presence on the modern Indian art scene for several decades now. Sheikh obtained a master’s degree in painting from M. S. University, Baroda, in 1961, and studied at the Royal College of Art, London, from 1963-69, on a Commonwealth scholarship.

A member of Group 1890, Sheikh spearheaded an art movement from Baroda based on resurrecting the role of narration and rejecting the abstract for a socially reactive figuration that was closely linked to the living concerns of the people. History has been a major reference point for him, and he freely draws from European and Indian art as also from political events to create a lush narrative. Literature is another influence, especially the sayings of the medieval Bhakti saint Kabir. In fact, the theme of Kabir has remained a constant leitmotif in his art, staying with him through all the decades of his artistic evolution.

He taught at his alma mater for nearly three decades, and also edited a book tracing the evolution of Baroda as a major centre of contemporary art in India. Also a poet and an art critic, Sheikh published his first anthology in Gujarati, Athwa, in 1974. He has been awarded by the Lalit Kala Akademi, Ahmedabad and New Delhi; Bombay Art Society, Bombay; Group 8, New Delhi, and by the Government of India with a Padma Shri in 1983.

Sheikh lives and works in Baroda with his artist-wife, Nilima Sheikh.