Amrita Sher-Gil

Amrita was one of the eminent painters of India. She was the daughter of a Sikh aristocrat and a Sanskrit scholar, Umrao Singh Sher-Gil Majithia and a Hungarian mother; Marie Antoinette Gottesmann who was a singer. She sailed with her mother to France and studied art in Paris. She was only sixteen year old that time. She learnt art first at the Grande Chaumiere and then at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. At the end of 1934, Sher-Gil returned to India. At twenty two years of age, she was already an adept painter, trained with some of the most necessary skills that make for a great artist. She had an unquenchable curiosity, a persistent hard work and single-mindedness about her career in art. Since she learned art from Paris, her early works in 1930’s display a prominent influence of western style of painting. In 1934, Sher-Gil returned to India and began a rediscovery of the Indian traditions and cultural art which she continued till her death. She was greatly impressed and inspired by the works of Mughal miniatures and the Ajanta paintings. Amrita traveled to South India and painted the famous South Indian trilogies that show her fervent sense of color and sympathy for Indian subjects most often portrayed in their poverty and despair. In 1938, Sher-Gil married to her Hungarian cousin Dr. Victor Egan. She then stayed at her paternal family's home in Saraya, Uttar Pradesh.

Amrita's work at art schools in Europe was largely academic; however she started experimenting only after her return to India. She never considered herself as a foreigner getting attracted to the rich and varied India, she always considered herself as a true Indian at heart. She had deep respect for India’s contemporary artists. After coming to India, she decided to depict the life of poor Indians pictorially. She decided that these works will be fundamentally Indian in the right mood.

All her paintings depict thin, gaunt starving men and women. At her summer hill residence in Simla, she came in touch with the Pahari villagers and portrayed them in her paintings. She also painted fruit vendors, hill men and women, saints etc. All the figures that Shergil drew, especially women, had jaded eyes with an ex-pression of acceptance and gloom on their faces. She was more interested in painting women and their activities. Since she was unaware about the social and family environment of women, she was more than fascinated to know about them and portray them in her paintings. The confined lives of Indian women and their sorrow are seen in Amrita’s paintings.

The fable of Amrita Sher-Gil has been alive for three decades and it’s her art that has kept her awake in the minds of art lovers. Her paintings carry that aureole which the on-lookers admire. The contemporary artists have rejected Shergil’s work as schmaltzy or absurd. Sher-Gil died in 1941 however the real reason for death has still been uncertain

Krishen Khanna

Krishen Khanna is one of the distinguished names in the Indian contemporary art scenario. Along with his friends M.F. Husain, Tyeb Mehta, Ram Kumar, Raza, Souza, Gaitonde and others; Khanna started painting at a time when there was not much glitz in art. He was born in pre partition India in 1925 in the Lyallpur district (now in Pakistan). He then moved to Shimla during the partition era. In Lahore, Khanna attended evening classes at the Mayo School of Art. After coming to India, he took up a job with Grindlays Bank and was placed in Mumbai. But he gave up a job in Grindlays Bank to pursue art about four decades ago. During that time the art scenario was much different and enclosed than what it is now.  His ardor for art motivated him to take such a step. His hard work, perseverance and interest won him many rewards and accolades in the art world. Krishen Khanna has also taught art in the United States without any formal academic qualification in the subject. The artist's sympathy towards the browbeaten and poor people is vivid in his paintings. . Depiction of violence and can also be seen in Khanna’s work coming from his experiences during the Partition.

Khanna sold his first painting in a major exhibition in to Dr. Homi Bhabha for the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. His father always encouraged and supported him to pursue art as a career. In fact his wife also supported him when he resigned from the job. Khanna shows and exhibitions in Mumbai were very well received and this boosted up his confidence. Khanna was also invited to join the Progressive Artists' Group with whom he remained involved for the rest of his time.

In 1962, Khanna was awarded the ‘Rockefeller Fellowship’. In 1963-64, he was ‘the Artist in Residence’ at the American University in Washington. Apart from several solo shows, he has participated in group shows like the ‘Tokyo Biennale’ in 1957 and 196 1, the ‘Sao Paulo Biennale’ in 1960, ‘the Venice Biennale’ in 1962, and several others. Khanna has held many vital positions in decision-making bodies of the Lalit Kala Academy, National Gallery of Modern Art and Roopanker Museum, Bhopal. In 1996, he was awarded the grand ‘Padma Shri’.

Khanna does not prefer the cornucopia of figuration which was so evident in Indian paintings. Khanna makes such an incredible impact on the canvas that it sure leaves a dint in the on-lookers heart. His masterful maneuver of painting evokes the unmatched feelings of human situation. The thick impasto façade of the painting often seems like a prism through which figures can be distinguished. Khanna relocates his observations onto the canvas with such naturalness and exuberance that it enhances his subject matter. His earlier works are replicas of scenes that have imprinted themselves on his mind during the partition. Khanna lives and works in New Delhi.

Manjit Bawa

Manjit Bawa is yet another well known painter of India. He was born in 1941 in a small town called Dhuri in Punjab. As a child, Manjit was not really encouraged to be an artist. His mother would often deject him saying that art cannot fetch one a living. However, painting and art was where Mantis’s heart lay. He had no doubt about becoming an artist. Manjit always believed that art should bring some freshness with it. It should portray something that one has never seen before.

Manjit’s elder brothers supported him and motivated him to further his career in art. From 1958 to 1063, Manjit studied fine arts at ‘The School of Arts’, New Delhi. His professors were his source of inspiration then. Bawa gained an identity under the great Abani Sen, who pushed him to make almost fifty sketches a day but most of them were rejected. As a result, Bawa started to work even harder for longer hours.

His passion for painting immerged and grew with each passing day. Manjit started to admire and move towards the figurative art when most of the art world was in favor of the abstract works. He truly credits his teachers and Sen without whom he believes that he wouldn’t be able to create such styles that we see in his work today. Bawa studied art as well as worked as a silkscreen printer in Britain from 1964 to 1971. After returning from Britain, Bawa was in a fix as he could not figure out what should he paint. Bawa just did not want to be typical European style painter. In his childhood, Bawa was exposed to a lot stories from Indian mythology like the Mahabharata and the Ramayana He had also been taught a lot about Sufi poetries. He brought these to his paintings.

Manjit Bawa's canvases are very discernible in their colors especially the yellow color of sunflowers, the green color of the paddy fields, red of the sun and the blue of the mountain sky. Bawa opted for more traditional Indian colors like pinks, reds and violet. He was one of the first painters to break out of the clichéd grays and browns. Initially there was a lot of criticism on Bawa’s work but he still persisted his own way. Manjit believes that bright colors are closer to the heart of most Indians. They are also familiar with the shades of bright colors.

Nature has inspired Bawa to paint the countryside landscape. As a young boy, Bawa would travel by foot or hitch hike to places like Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat. He would then spread his sheet pf paper and draw beautiful landscapes. The colors and the simplicity of people fascinated him a lot. One would always find birds and animals in his paintings. Besides nature, flute was something that one would get to see in his paintings often.
The main charm of his paintings is the feel that one gets of saturating expanse of color fields which create space and define the curves of figures. Manjit Bawa lives and works in his studio in Himachal Pradesh, and also in Delhi, where his family lives.

Ram Kumar

Ram Kumar is one of the post colonial contemporary artists of India. He was born in 1924 in Shimla and he achieved his master’s degree in economics from St. Stephens College, Delhi University. Ram Kumar use to take painting classes at the Sharda Vakil School of art and was noticed by the famous painter S.H.Raza who later became his close friend.  In1952, Kumar went to Paris to study painting. He received the JD Rockefeller fund fellowship in 1972. Ram Kumar is also a great writer. He was well known for his short stories in Hindi. The Govt. of India awarded him the ‘Padmashree’ in 1972.  In 1985, he was awarded the ‘Kalidas Samman’ by the Madhya Pradesh State Govt. Ram Kumar lives and works in New Delhi. At Paris, Kumar took guidance under Andre Lhote and Fernard Leger between 1949 and 1952.

With the ever increasing global interest in the Indian contemporary art, Ram Kumar’s paintings too have gained appreciation in the booming art market. Ram Kumar has had numerous solo exhibitions including the International Biennales in Tokyo in 1957 and 1970, the Venice Biennale 1958 and in Sao Paulo in 1961, 1965 and 1972.  He has also participated in the Festival of India show held in the former USSR and also in Japan in 1987-88. Ram Kumar has also received the prestigious ‘Prem Chand Puraskar’ from the Uttar Pradesh Government for ‘Meri Priya Kahaniyan’ which was a collection of short stories.

Ram Kumar’s early work specifically manifests the typical human conditions. He typically depicts the estranged individual lying alone amidst the city. His work specifically portraits the city Varanasi and its decrepit and crammed houses. His paintings give the on looker a sense of hopelessness and despondency. With uneven and sweeping strokes of paint; Kumar stirs up a sense of ecstasy of spaces. His recent work portrays the embryonic hostility within human environment.

Kumar demonstrates the innermost dramas of Indian culture while still maintaining his eccentricity and distinctness. Ram Kumar maintains the idiosyncrasies in his work by depicting the art of reminiscence. Ram Kumar relinquished his engagement with the state and civil society which claimed to characterize his position. The artist prefers to turn inward; choosing to be an inside expel of the soul. Ram Kumar’s recent paintings have been an aesthetic kind of reconciliation. The severity of the structure and the intensity of the brush strokes evoke the universal rhythm of art creation in Kumar’s paintings. The uncommunicative silence of Kumar’s paintings in a way screams to the onlooker. The journey of Kumar’s art has been an experience like that of the flowing river, moving graciously from festive expressivity to menacing reticence. The true subject of Ram Kumar’s art is perhaps the sensuousness of the beautiful landscapes that he creates in his paintings. His landscapes are usually done in oil or acrylic. In the truest sense if the term, Ram Kumar has indeed been one of the brilliant twentieth century modern painter.

V.S.Gaitonde

Vasudev S. Gaitonde was regarded as one of the most finest and cloistered abstract painter of India. Vasudev Gaitonde was born in 1924 and had received his diploma from the J. J. School of Art in Mumbai in 1948. Impressed by his work, Vasudev was invited to join the Progressive Artists Group of Bombay. He actively participated in the activities of the group. He had several exhibitions held in India as well as in foreign countries.

In 1956, he participated in the Indian art exhibition which was held in east European countries. He also participated in other group exhibitions held at the Graham art gallery, New York in 1959 and 1963. Gaitonde's abstract works are produced in many Indian and overseas collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York. In 1957, he was awarded the first prize at the Young Asian Artists Exhibition, Tokyo and the Rockefeller Fellowship followed in 1964. In 1971, he was awarded the Padma Shri i.e. the highest award for creative excellence given by the Government of India.

Gaitonde experimented hugely with form and shape in his works. Vasudev’s wraithlike and multifarious paintings invoke a concealed and obscure description of the real world, however Gaitonde highly disregarded the title of ‘abstractionist’ labeled on him. Vasudev had a profound influence of Zen philosophy and ancients calligraphy on him. In the midst of his art work, one could notice the control and the conglomerated structure finely depicted. Gaitonde preferred to enjoy a slow and a meticulous painting process unlike his contemporaries that is why he produced only a few finished works. Gaitonde’s use of symbolic element and very few ground lines made his work appear like a flowing river. Gaitonde’s work reminds us of artists like Paul Klee and Joan Miro whom he had studied during his college days.

Gaitonde makes the on-looker simply gaze at his paintings as they represent a marvelous illusion of form, color and painting. He has the power to make simple objects to turn into spiritual elements. The artist had tremendous talent and skill in shading which makes his work look like a never ending abyss. Gaitonde uses a roller and a palette knife, to throughly influence and mix different mediums on the canvas. His art work appers to sublime with each element evaporating in some other form. His abstract paintings with their lucid beams of light evoke concealed depths. Gaitonde’s work appears to radiate a meditative charm with large planar surfaces and subtle layers of paint on the canvas. His paintings have an attribute of light that seems to be complete in it. His work builds up pigments and later they are carefully removed for the desired effect that Gaitonde creates.

V.S. Gaitonde was the first Indian contemporary painter whose work was sold for Rs. 92 lakhs at the Osians art auction. Gaitonde passed away in 2002. VS Gaitonde is still considered as one of India's foremost abstractionists and an ethereal painter.

F.N.Souza

Indian art has always entwined in itself history, religion and philosophy. India can boast of many a great artists of the century. Francis Newton Souza was one such artist. He was the first experimental artist from India to achieve wide spread fame in the west. He was born on April 12, 1928 at Goa and was Christian by relegion. He studied Art at the J.J. School of Arts in Mumbai but was expelled from the school for his participation in the Quit India Movement way back in 1942. Souza’a career developed steadily and he started participating in a lot of exhibitions and shows. Souza was the founder of the Bombay Progressive Artist’s Group. He encouraged all painters to participate in the avant-garde movement. Souza moved to England in the 1950’s. Souza was one of the early modernist in the true sense of the term.

F N Souza’s painting always screamed to make a world his own.  They appeared ephemeral. with his incensed brushstrokes, criss-cross lines and glossy borders. His paintings seemed grave and futile, pressing and mocking at you. Souza reasserted the intensity of impressions with utmost desperation. Souza’s painting seemed to attack the canvas. It was as if he waged a war against it. Souza combined the art of ex-pressionism of Rouault and Soutine, fortitude of Cubism and ancient Indian classical sculptures to paint beautiful landscapes, crucifixes, popes and priests etc. Lines were what Souza’s forte was. Souza always painted and still left something in his paintings which made them mysterious and captivating.

What threw Souza into fame was his autobiographical essay ‘Nirvana of a Maggot’ which appeared in 1955 in a magazine edited by Stephen Spender. ‘Words and Lines’ was his other great book which was published in London in 1959. In 1967, Souza settled in New York. Souza has also been a part of the Commonwealth Artists of Fame exhibition which was held in London in 1977. He has also participated in several other exhibitions which include one-man shows in Paris in 1954 and 1960 and in Detroit in 1968. In 1987, his retrospectives were held in New Delhi and Mumbai. He also exhibited his work at the Indus Gallery in Karachi in 1988. In 1996, his paintings were displayed at New Delhi again. In 2005, as part of their British Art Collection, the Tate Britain devoted an area to Souza’s works so that Britain art lovers could appreciate his work time and now. Souza work also had hints of ex-pressionism and British neo-romanticism. F. N. Souza also received positive appreciation from John Peter Berger, an art critique. Berger also said that Souza’s style was deliberately eclectic.

In his last days Souza painted many pictures under the title “Goa portfolio” where he also wrote a lot of inspiring prose. Souza was always viewed as a brilliant painter, a good writer, a visionary and a pathfinder. Although Souza lived in the west; first England then New York, he remained a through Indian at heart.

M.F.Husain

Art is surely a gift of God and one of the most beautiful forms of ex-pression. Blessed with this endowment is one such artist who needs no introduction. His name is a metaphor to contemporary Indian art and his paintings speak for themselves. With his feet well grounded in the traditional roots and a mindset so open and fierce, he has become one of the most prominent figures in the Indian art industry. He is none other than Maqbool Fida Husain, more popularly, M.F.Hussain. He is one of the most enigmatic artists of India who is known for his vigorous appreciation of the human circumstances and the traces of it can be found in his masterpieces.

Born in 1915 at Pandharpur in Maharashtra; Hussain comes from a traditional Muslim background. As a child, Hussain learnt the art of calligraphy and loved to read poetries while he resided with his uncle in Baroda. After painting many countryside landscapes and completing his schooling in Indore, Hussain decided to move to Mumbai to make his career in art. He joined the J.J. school of arts and started to earn his living by painting billboards for feature films. In 1947, Hussain won an award for his paintings at the annual exhibition of the Bombay art society and this marked the beginning of a vibrant colorful career ahead waiting for this art maestro. Hussain did a lot of art experimentation in his early years by blending different ethnic and mythological themes to create luminous art forms.

His creativity, style and innovation in paintings have made him reach the acme in Indian art. F.N. Souza, a member of The Progressive Artist's Group, which was formed to give new dimensions to Indian art, invited Hussain to become a member of it in 1948. By 1955 Hussain went on to become one of the foremost artists in India and was awarded the grand ‘Padma Shri’. In 1971, Hussain was invited along with Pablo Picasso at the Sao Paulo Biennial. Apart from the several solo exhibitions, Hussain has many studios in major metropolitans of the country. In 1973, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, in 1989, the Padma Vibhushan and finally was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1986. Hussain has also made feature films, like "Through the Eyes of a Painter" and "Gajagamini”, the former winning the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival. Hussain has also written lyrics for two songs of the film Meenaxi:

S H Raza

S.H.Raza is better known as the ‘master of colors’. Raza is one of the distinguished Indian artists of the century. His works basically include real and abstract landscapes blossomed with vibrant colors.

Born in Madhya Pradesh, Syed Haider Raza studied painting at the Nagpur school of art. He later moved to Mumbai to study at the J.J. School of art. He was one of the founder members of the Progressive Artist’s group. In his early days, he struggled to develop a modernist language. Before leaving for France, he had many exhibitions of his art works in India. The govt. of France granted him a schlorship in 1950. He studied painting in Paris at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts from 1950 to 1953. S H Raza was awarded the title ‘Padma Shri’ in 1981.

He was also awarded Kalidas Samman from the government of Madhya Pradesh. In 1965, he was given the Prix de la Critique award in Paris. In 1962, the University of California invited him as a visiting lecturer at the art department of Berkeley. Raza has held several painting exhibitions across the country. In 1997, he showcased his work at his exhibitions held in Mumbai, Bhopal and New Delhi. He is also participated in the exhibitions held at Venice, Sao Paulo, and Menton biennales in France. He is married to a French artist named Janine Mongillat. Raza always chose to focus on landscape than his contemporaries who chose more figural objects. The artist, these days, mostly lives in Paris or in Gorbio in south France. At a recent painting auction held in December 2010, Raza’s painting was reportedly sold for US dollar 1.4 million.

Raza emphasized western modernism and his paintings always depicted abstraction. Raza also integrated rudiments of Tantrism which retains Indian scriptural texts.  Raza is mainly a nature based painter who has come a long way from painting ex-pressionistic landscapes to abstract ones. Mesmerized with the rustic countryside of rural France, Raza captures the architectural beauty of this region in his paintings. Raza uses wavy brushstrokes and other stylistic devices of paint which entices the art lovers. His earlier works were dazzling with vivacious colors oozing the eye of the on-looker but off late his work has become more subtle and restrained. Raza believes that his work is his own inner experience and involvement with the ambiguity of nature and form which is articulated in color, line, space and light. Raza’s colorful paintings are associated with the symbolic and emotive value of all the vibrant colors of India.

Raza’s work indeed captivates the eye. His use of heavy paint and pulsating colors makes one gaze at his landscapes. Raza still lingers onto his childhood memories spent in forests where he was inspired to paint and stimulated by the Indian metaphysical contemplation. S. H Raza indeed is one of the inspiring faces for the aspiring painters and he will continue to remain a living legend in the eyes of art aficionado.

Brota Rameshwar

R Broota is one of the talented painters of modern India. He was born in 1941 in New Delhi. He graduated from the college of art in 1964. Broota has been teaching and inspiring many students and art lovers as the head of the department of art, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi. From the very beginning of Broota’s career, he has been passionately involved in the human situation that degrades individuals. As a young painter Broota's anger at the sufferings of the poor and the anguish at the voracity and corruption that he saw in society was eminently expressed in his early works which are a sardonic and bitter comment on the social society. Slowly Broota's creativity gave a new direction to aesthetics in contemporary Indian Art. His canvasses are usually large but on close observation, they are enormously obscure monumental drawings. Broota’s present works has had an abstract bent with symbols communicating the cadence of time, of man, and of existence.

Broota’s solo exhibitions were held in 1984 and 1990 at Calcutta and also at Mumbai in 1997. By choice, Broota never had a solo showing of his paintings in Delhi though. In 1980, 1981 and 1984, the painter has won three National Awards of the Lalit Kala Academy. He has also won the AIFACS Awards in 1973 and 1975 and the Hyderabad Art Society Award for Graphics in 1976. He received the Senior Fellowship of the Government of India for the years 1987 and 1988. In 1988, he was bestowed the L. N. Gupta Memorial Award and the Title Award 'Kala Vibhushan' by AIFACS in 1997. Broota has also made some experimental video films which were highly acclaimed too.

Broota mostly paints in the monochrome technique. His canvas surface is usually painted in matte black. He works with a sharp and thin blade so as to bring in light and forms. This exposes the white surface below giving it a lovely effect and creating deep spatial dimensions His highly fine paintings have the quality of a graphic print.

His paintings have been shown in many solo and prestigious group shows. Some of them include the 'Pictorial Space' which was held at New Delhi' in 1977. He achieved world wide recognition with his exhibition at the Museum of Modem Art, Oxford in 1982 with the theme being India: Myth and Reality. Apart from that, his work was also exhibited at the Hirsch horn Museum in Washington D.C in 1982 u7nder the title ‘Modern Indian Painting'. Other famous exhibitions were his work was included are the ‘Biennales’ in Tokyo and Dhaka, 'Art for Man', Saddam Centre for International Art, Baghdad in 1986 and International Art Fair in 1976. Broota basically lives and works in New Delhi.
Broota is not only a good painter but a great teacher too. Broota has been giving guidance and inspiring many artists of the younger generation.

Tyeb Mehta

Excellence is not one time phenomenon; rather it’s a habit, performed repeatedly. Tyeb Mehta belongs to the clan which has made excellence, its second nature.

Tyeb Mehta was born in July 1925 in Kapadvanj district of Gujarat. He is not only one of the greatest artists of India but also an acclaimed painter. After working as a film editor in a cinema laboratory, his interest in painting led him to Sir J.J.School of Art, Mumbai from where he graduated in 1952.To further his interest, he made a short visit of four months to London and Paris.

After his return, he focused intensely on the art of painting and sculpture which saw him participating in many exhibitions. He organized first solo exhibition of his art at the Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 1959.

With a desire to accentuate his skills and learning, he left for London where he lived and worked from 1959 to 1964. He also made a visit to USA on a Rockfeller Fellowship in 1968 .He also tried his hand at film-making which made him win Film fare critic’s award in 1970 for his experimental film Koodal. He is also a Recipient of Kalidas Samman by the Madhya Pradesh Government in 1988. Truly, Mehta is a multi-faceted personality.

In addition to a range of solo exhibitions, he has also participated in several international shows too. Immaculate in nature, he is one of the most influential artists of India. To think of the fact that, he chose his calling when there was not much knowledge and understanding about the art, says a lot about his resolve. He has certainly contributed a lot for the art of painting and sculpture in India by means of awareness and exposure.

What makes Tyeb Mehta so renowned and hugely respected? The answer lies in his works which are a clear reflection of supreme authenticity and wonderful assortment of honesty and intent. Adding to that is the ever growing repertoire of his craft in various other modes of painting. What else can one ask from a painter?

Another distinct mark of his strong identity and proud national origin is his affinity with mythological characters in his works. This not only shows his knowledge about the Indian traditions but also explains a lot about his commitment and consideration. His versatility is unmistakably reflected in, from painting images of rickshaw-wallahs and the tethered bull, to intricate, encrusted images and concepts of Hindu mythology.

As a confirmation of his brilliance, Mehta’s paintings fetch the maximum prices of any living Indian artist. He possess the record for the highest price an Indian painting has ever been sold in a public auction for “Celebration” at Christie’s, New York in 2002.Adding to that his painting “Mahisasura,” brought $1.58 million , the first time a modern Indian painting had crossed the million-dollar mark.

Tyeb Mehta’s hugely influential works, across six decades makes him one of the supreme names in modern Indian art. At the forefront of rise of Indian art, his name will be etched in the canals of great Indian artists.