Magazine: Buying Guides, Research, and Videos

Francis Newton Souza's 1961 Pope

Francis Newton Souza was born in 1924 in Saligao, Goa. He was expelled for participating in the Quit India Movement while studying at the Sir J J School of Art in Mumbai. In 1947, he founded the Progressive Artists' Group along with S H Raza, M F Husain, and K H Ara, among others. Souza's style created thought-provoking and powerful images.

Early Abstraction in Indian Art

Abstract art or non objective art is a painting or sculpture that does not depict a person, place, or any other figure. With abstract art, the subject of the work is what you see: color, shapes, brushstrokes, size, scale, or just the process.

Prabhakar Kolte : Abstract Painter

Prabhakar Kolte was born in 1946 in Nerur Par, Maharashtra. He completed his diploma from the Sir J.J. School of Arts, Mumbai in 1968. He also taught there from 1972 to 1994.

G R Santosh : Early abstract works

Santosh began his career painting landscapes at home in Kashmir before being spotted by S. H. Raza, who encouraged him to study at the Maharaja Sayajirao University at Baroda under N. S. Bendre. He started painting figurative and abstract works before he completely switched to tantra inspired works in 1964.

M V Dhurandhar : The female muse

Born in 1867 in Kolhapur, Dhurandhar was a master of watercolor. One of the most popular Indian artists, he was inspired to be an artist after he saw Raja Ravi Varma’s works of art. He studied at Sir JJ School of Art in Bombay and was an expert in the western academic style of painting. Although his subject matter was Indian in character, his works had the style of realism that western artists of that time had.

Abanindranath Tagore : Asian Art

Abanindranath Tagore is a pioneering figure of modernism in India. Inspired by nationalist leaders who were demanding independence from the British, many Indians were using local products instead of imported and expensive foreign products.

Rembrandt and his Mughal Art

Rembrandt Harmnenszoon van Rijn was a Dutch artist who became well known for his artworks that demonstrated realism with the use of light and shadow. Anyone who is interested in art history would know that Rembrandt was a great artist. Not only did he became well known in the Dutch Golden Age but he continues to well respected all over the world today.

Manu Parekh: Bhagalpur blinding

Manu Parekh was born in 1939 in Gujarat. Parekh completed a Diploma in Drawing and Painting from the Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai, in 1962. Parekh’s early work explored the relationships between man and nature, as he thought that it was an energetic link that had to be celebrated.

Souza and Husain in the 1940s

Although the first exhibition of the Progressive Artists Group was held in 1949, the group formally came into existence on December 15, 1947.

Maqbool Fida Husain Horses, Nude

Maqbool Fida Husain was born in 1913 in Pandharpur, Maharashtra. In 1948, he was invited by F N Souza to join the Progressive Artists' Group in Mumbai. When he took up painting as an art form, he blended folk, tribal, and mythological art to create vibrantly contemporary, living art forms.

Zarina Hashmi Silkscreen Print

Born in 1937 in Aligarh, India, Zarina Hashmi studied Mathematics before she tried her hand at printmaking when she visited Rajasthan in the 1960s. Hashmi went on to study intaglio in Paris and woodblock printing Tokyo. Her works are known for her use of lines on handmade paper and are often used to depict political borders and memories of violence from the partition.

Monochrome Ram Kumar Landscape

Ram Kumar was an essential part of the first generation of post-colonial 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.

Sudhir Patwardhan's Early Drawings

Sudhir Patwardhan is born in 1949 in Pune, Maharashtra, and is a self-taught artist and a practicing radiologist. He began painting in the 1970s when he moved to Bombay. Patwardhan’s artwork revolves around the panorama of an urban and natural environment The everyday human figure is often a common subject matter of Patwardhan's works.

Sanjay Bhattacharya - Lotuses

Born in 1958 in Calcutta, Sanjay Bhattacharya was the youngest of four children. After finishing school, he decided to join the Government College of Arts and Crafts in Calcutta in 1977. When he graduated, he freelanced for work while experimenting with watercolors and put up his first art exhibition.

Paresh Maity Cloudy Landscape

Paresh Maity was born in Tamluk, West Bengal in 1965. He studied at the Government College of Art & Craft, Kolkata and graduated with a Masters of Fine Arts from the Delhi College of Arts. Maity’s preferred medium is watercolor and has made numerous watercolor works.

Nasreem Mohamedi -Double Sided

Born in 1937 in Lahore in undivided India, Nasreem Mohamedi is well known for her line drawings. While she mainly worked with pencil and ink on paper, she also experimented with line and form and how it could intercept the path of light.

B. Vithal: Master of The Nude

B. Vithal was born in Maharashtra in 1935. He studied at the Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai, and secured a diploma in sculpture. There he excelled in the live model studio classes and the emphasis on the study of the human form. Although he is well known for his sculptures, he excelled in painting the human form as well.

V. S. Gaitonde: Abstract Drawing

V.S. Gaitonde grew up in Nagpur, Maharashtra, and studied at the J. J. School of Art. In 1947, he was invited to join the Progressive Artists’ Group and went on to become one of its original members. He worked with various mediums and used a roller and palette knives to create his own layered texture that became his signature style.

Manu Parekh - An Important Portrait

Manu Parekh was born in 1939 in Gujarat. Parekh completed a Diploma in Drawing and Painting from the Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai, in 1962. Parekh’s early work explored the relationships between man and nature, as he thought that it was an energetic link that had to be celebrated.

Shyamal Dutta Ray's Early Work

Shyamal Dutta Ray, born in 1935 in Bihar is known for his melancholic and dark watercolor works. Ray studied at the Government College of Arts and Crafts in Calcutta. He also founded the Society of Contemporary Artists, an artists' collective, that sought to introduce a new style into the Indian art world in the 1960s.