Sudhir Ranjan Khastgir: The Lyrical Visionary

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Khastgir was a multifaceted artist who is widely celebrated for his lyrical formations in both paintings and sculptures.

Born in Chittagong region of Bangladesh in 1907, he moved to Kolkata for his schooling. Khastgir received his formal education at Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan under the guidance of eminent artists like Nandalal Bose and Abanindranath Tagore. After graduating from Santiniketan, he went on to study at the Academy of Fine arts, Munich.

Khastgir’s educational journey shaped heavily influced his body of work. His art embodies his free and exuberant script which led him to explore diverse mediums and subjects. He portrayed ordinary subjects with great finesse and details. He effortlessly painted human figures, trees, dancers, even notable portraits of known people like Rabindranath Tagore and Jawahar Lal Nehru.

His works are widely celebrated for lyrical formations along with delicate texture and elaborate color palette. The human figures are almost sensuous but fluid, the continuity of brushstrokes executes an easy going approach in his vision. The tenderness of the imagery is easy on its audience turning and ordinary canvas into a melodious execution.

His color palette has sense of depth and detail, the perfect use of bright reds along with earthy tones presents the canvas with a significant influence.

Khastgir was a multi-faceted artist. Apart from painting, he is equally known for his prints and sculptures while being an accomplished singer who played flute with considerable skill. He did portraits of a number of eminent Indian and British personalities including Jawaharlal Nehru and Rabindranath Tagore.

Khastgir became the first art teacher at the newly opened Doon School in 1935, where he taught for more than 20 years. Also, he had held many art exhibitions across India and Europe. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Art in 1937. Subsequently, he also worked as the Principal of the College of Arts and Crafts, Lucknow for many years until his retirement. In 1952, Sudhir Ranjan Khastgir had received the eminent Indian government award Padma Shri

 

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