Sunil Das (4 August 1939 – 10 August 2015) was an Indian

expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

. He is known for the paintings in his Bull Series and his piece "Woman". He was the founder member of Society of Contemporary Artists.

Early life and background

Sunil Das was born in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He joined the

Government College of Art & Craft, Kolkata The Government College of Art & Craft (GCAC) in Kolkata is one of the oldest Art colleges in India. It was founded on August 16, 1854 at Garanhata, Chitpur, "with the purpose of establishing an institution for teaching the youth of all classe ...

in 1955, then won a French Government Scholarship to study at the

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

in Paris. Das is the only Indian to receive the prestigious Shiromani Kala Puraskar for his artistic excellence while studying his undergraduate degree at the

Government College of Art and Craft The Government College of Art & Craft (GCAC) in Kolkata is one of the oldest Art colleges in India. It was founded on August 16, 1854 at Garanhata, Chitpur, "with the purpose of establishing an institution for teaching the youth of all classe ...

. He died in 2015.

Career

Das joined

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

's Handloom division,

Ministry of Textiles The Ministry of Textiles is an Indian government national agency responsible for the formulation of policy, planning, development, export promotion and regulation of the textile industry in India. This includes all natural, artificial, and ce ...

. Sunil Das was one of India's most important post-modernist painters. He went through different styles of painting throughout his career. Das said,"To prevent myself from producing the same kind of work, I keep altering my vision. From the day people begun to see me as a painter, a huge responsibility fell upon me, particularly to respond to the feelings of the people at the grassroots level who are also my viewer, as also to delve deep into realities of life around me." At 60 years of age, he could look back at his nine to ten phases of paintings, all of them marked by supreme skill and a sense of integrity. An indefatigable painter, Das jumped from one style to another easily. He was inspired by the force and the strength of the moving horse and went on to create a work made out of charcoal titled- ''Horses in Motion''. His works revolved around ''Man-Woman relationships'', ''Woman in her sexual empowerment'' and ''In her loneliness''. He had around 88 solo exhibitions across the world including having his work included in the

Paris Biennale The ''Biennale de Paris'' (English: Paris Biennale) is a noted French art festival, established in 1959. In 1983, the organization ceased functions, until its reestablishment in 2000 with the first exhibition of the new era occurring in 2004. T ...

. * Bull series * A woman in her failings (oil on canvas) * Horse series (charcoal)

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

*2008 ‘Endless Night’, Ganges Art,

*2005-06 ‘Art Moves – Works by Sunil Das’, organized by Delhi Art Gallery,

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

Jehangir Art Gallery Jehangir Art Gallery is an art gallery in Mumbai (India). It was founded by Sir Cowasji Jehangir at the urging of K. K. Hebbar and Homi J. Bhabha. It was built in 1952. Managed by the Committee of Management, the entire cost of this mansion wa ...

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, Park Hotel,

and Rabindra Bhavan, Lalit Kala Akademi,

*2005 ‘Horses…and Bulls – Paintings on Canvas and Paper by Sunil Das’, Jamaat,

* 2003 ‘Sunil Das in Retrospect 1957-2003’,. ITC Sonar Bangla Art Gallery,

*2001 ‘Drawings – Bulls and Horses’, Dhoomimal Art Centre,

*2000 Art Heritage,

Participations

*1999 Annual Exhibition, 32nd Anniversary of Birla Academy of Art and Culture,

*1989 20th International Biennale, Sao Paulo,

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

*1989 International Biennale,

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

*1989 Festival of Japan,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

*1989 International Triennale,

Awards

* In 2014 the

conferred upon Sunil its fourth-highest civilian award, the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

. * Recipient of the National Award in 1959 and 1978

Death

In 2015, Sunil died due to a massive cardiac arrest, aged 76.

References

Sunil Das' Official website

External links

*
Profile on Delhi Art Gallery

Sunil Das' Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Das, Sunil Indian male painters 1939 births Indian Expressionist painters Government College of Art & Craft alumni University of Calcutta alumni École des Beaux-Arts alumni Artists from Kolkata Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts 2015 deaths 20th-century Indian painters Painters from West Bengal 20th-century Indian male artists 21st-century Indian male artists