Bikash Bhattacharjee

Bikash Bhattacharjee was born in Calcutta in 1940 and studied Fine Arts at the Indian College of Arts and Draughtsmanship, graduating with a diploma in 1963 His interest in the streets of the city of Calcutta, the struggles of the average middle class, the poverty, struggle and violence he witnessed throughout his life shaped his work With his brush, he was able to capture not just large-scale scenes but finer details in a photo-realistic way like no other In later works we can see his surreal inspirations take over with slight distortions appearing in his art Women and the truth of society remained motifs dear to his work through the span of his career, using his paintings as social commentary

Bikash was the recipient of the National Award from the Lalit Kala Akademi in both 1971 and 1972, and later received the Padma Shri His work was also exhibited in solo and group shows nationally and internationally in cities like Yugoslavia, New York, London and Paris

Bikash Bhattacharjee passed away on 18 December 2006