Paritosh Sen

Paritosh Sen was born 1918 in Dacca, now Bangladesh. After reading through the art journal Prabasi published by D.P. Roy Chowdhury, he ran away from his house to study art. He studied Fine Arts at the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Chennai. In 1942, he moved to Calcutta, where he and a group of friends formed the Calcutta Group, an association of artists that sought to incorporate contemporary values in Indian art.

Unaware of the European modern art till the forties, Sen explored and experimented with Indian visual idioms anc voacbulary. While teaching at Art College, Indore, Sen discovered masters like Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne. This pushed him to go to Paris, so in 1949, he left for Paris to study further, attending the Ecole des Beaux Arts. This trip got him closer acquainted with European art and arts. One of the greatest inspirations of his life was meeting Pablo Picasso. Sen returned to India in 1954, and began producting artworks.

A painter, illustrator, tutor and writer, Sen’s more recognizable works are his caricatures, which reflect strong underlying socio-political shades, and his female nude drawings. His style of representation is influenced by his exposure…