Born in 1921 in Chittagong, undivided India, Somnath Hore studied at the Government Art College in Calcutta. His works represent the turbulent lives at the time of the Bengal Famine of 1943. His pictorial language in his sketches, sculptures, and prints is a reaction to one of the major crises’ that hit Bengal in the 20th century.

Born in 1914, K. H. Ara, a founder member of the Progressive Artists’ Group, evolved his trademark style, through nudes and still-life paintings. He was a modernist for whom the form and language of art preceded all other social and political motivations. This evolved a certain eclecticism which led him in an exploration of his own style.

Jamini Roy, who was inspired by folk traditions created an Alpana or a floral motif that was considered to be sacred painting in Bengal because it was done on special occasions. The alpana which is usually done with hands and rice paint on the floor was done with tempera on cloth instead.

After a diploma in Fine Arts specializing in Murals in 1940 and a postgraduate course from Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai, KS Kulkarni went to Delhi in 1943 to study textile design. In 1945, he quit his job and joined the art department of the Delhi Polytechnic and became a member of Delhi’s All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society.

Before moving to Bombay, B Prabha studied at the Nagpur School of Art. After moving, she went on to graduate from the Sir J. J. School of Art where she met her husband who was a fellow student. B Prabha made it in the art world at a time where there were very few women artists.

Known for his Neo-Tantric paintings, Biren De molded an artistic career for himself across five decades, beginning as a portrait painter. The early works were figurative and strongly influenced by Post-Impressionist European painters.

Jamini Roy’s inspiration of folk art led him to experiment with sculpture along with paintings and sketches even though he had no formal sculpture training. This artwork depicts a preparatory sketch of three sculptures similar to crude dolls from folk art.

Jamini Roy's rejection of the western academic style of painting led to him being inspired by  Bengali folk paintings. Before he made the complete switch to the pat style paintings, he was depicting village life and folk. This work shows a personal reconstruction of another Indian reality that was often not seen in urban areas.

Ram Kumar was an essential part of the first generation of postcolonial Indian artists.  He was born in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh in 1924 and was a member of the Bombay Progressive Artists Group along with other popular artists like Husain, Raza and Sadanand Bakre.

One of the United State’s first landscape artists, Thomas Cole, can be considered as the father of the Hudson River School. Cole romanticized the wilderness of upstate New York. To him, wilderness and nature were meant to admired and respected. It was never meant to be controlled, tamed and made civilized.