Page 94 - Historic-Masterpieces-Dec24

Lot No. 45
BIMAL DASGUPTA

1917-1995

UNTITLED
60 x 48 in (152.4 x 122 cm)
Acrylic on canvas
1990
Signed & Dated: Bottom Right

` 20,00,000 - 30,00,000 | $ 24,691 - 37,037

Provenance: Property from a collection based in New Delhi

This lot will be offered without a reserve

Born in Bengal in 1917, Bimal Dasgupta was raised in
Delhi by his uncle, a government employee. While his
uncle’s family disapproved of his aspirations to become
an artist, he managed to enrol at the College of Arts and
Crafts in Calcutta in 1937, thanks to his father’s support.
However, his studies were disrupted by the war, and he
found himself working as a clerk in a war office. There,
his artistic talents were recognised, and he served as
assistant director, overseeing all artwork for Victory
magazine. After the war, he worked at the Dhoomimal
Gallery in New Delhi and with advertising agencies,
before taking up a teaching position at the College of
Art, New Delhi, where he taught for fourteen years. A
scholarship later enabled him to study and travel in
Europe for six months, where he was introduced to the
mediums of gouache and oil.

Nature held a profound significance for Dasgupta and
remained a cornerstone of his artistic practice. Initially
known as a landscape painter, his artistic journey
evolved over time. Following his European tour, he briefly
experimented with cubism, later explored neo-tantrism
during his abstract phase, and ultimately embraced
pure abstraction, primarily in watercolours and acrylic.

Dasgupta’s work was widely exhibited in India and
internationally, and he was commissioned to create
murals for the India pavilions at international trade fairs
in Moscow and Tokyo. He was honoured by the Sahitya
Kala Parishad, New Delhi, in 1972 and was named a
fellow of the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1989.