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A Thinker's artist: Akbar Padamsee

A prolific genius of colour and craft, Akbar Padamsee was one of the most versatile artists of the Modern Age. Best known for his paintings Padamsee was also a brilliant photographer, sculptor, filmmaker and lithographer. Padamsee was born on 12th April, 1928. Hailing from a privileged family he always had a strong inclination towards art. 

Akbar Padamsee was born on 12th April, 1928. He always had a strong fondness towards art. He is considered to be one of the pioneers in Modern Indian painting along with his contemporaries like S.H. Raza, F. N. Souza, M.F. Husain. He later on became involved with the Progressive Artist’s Group (PAG) in Bombay, which was formed in 1947 by F.N. Souza, S.H. Raza, M.F. Husain. Though he was not a formal member of the group, he was the youngest associate of the PAG.

His free spirit and progressive approach allowed him to experiment with a variety of mediums, from Oil paintings to watercolours, sculpture, printmaking to photography. The artist was very well known for his distinctive style. His subjects primarily included heads, couples, metascapes and mirror images. His fascination with depicting human faces was clear from was evident from his earliest paintings. 

However his career witnessed various phases with changing emphases. Padamsee’s true exploration of modern art began when he moved to Paris in 1951. During his visit to Paris he was introduced to the works of artists like Giotto, Masaccio and Rembrandt. He also met Paul Klee, the man whom he credits to have helped him understand how to use colours. Padamsee had a quasi-spiritual style of working with an in-depth understanding of colour combinations. His paintings showed a collaboration of cubism and expressionism, clad with a clever combination of sombre and bright colours. Some of his most celebrated artworks are Metascape series (1976), The Prophet (1953), Grey Series (late 1950s and early 1960s) and Mirror Images (early 2000s). 

The artist Passed away in the year 2020. Padamsee continued his work and has been prolific till his last breath. His illustrious career is marked by several decorations. He was awarded a Gold Medal by Lalit Kala Akademi in 1962 and the Kalidas Samman Award by the Madhya Pradesh government in 1997. He was also awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award in India, in 2010.

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