Devi Prasad (1921 – 1 June 2011) was an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

artist and peace activist. He was a pioneering studio potter, painter, designer, photographer, art educator and peace activist.

Early life

Devi Prasad studied at Rabindranath Tagore's

Shantiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...

and also at

Sevagram Sevagram (meaning "A town for/of service") is a town in the state of Maharashtra, India. It was the place of Mahatma Gandhi's ashram and his residence from 1936 to his death in 1948. After Sabarmati, Sevagram Ashram holds immense importance d ...

Career, peace activism and death

A major exhibition, ''The Making of the Modern Indian Artist-Craftsman'', was held in New Delhi in May 2010, wherein his works spanning 65 years beginning with some of Devi Prasad's earliest artworks – a selection of paintings made in Santiniketan in 1938 – and ends with a showcasing of some of the last (from 2003 to 2004) that were made the last time he used his studio in Delhi.

Naman Ahuja Naman P. Ahuja (born 1974) is an art historian and curator based in New Delhi. He is Professor of Indian Art and Architecture at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi where his research and graduate teaching ...

, who curated the exhibition, was an

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

in his

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

and has written extensively about his teacher remembering Prasad as a

compassionate Compassion motivates people to go out of their way to relieve the physical, mental or emotional pains of others and themselves. Compassion is often regarded as being sensitive to the emotional aspects of the suffering of others. When based on n ...

, deep-thinking person. Devi Prasad was also a lifelong pacifist and peace activist promoting ideals of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

and

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

. He worked internationally with

War Resisters' International War Resisters' International (WRI), headquartered in London, is an international anti-war organisation with members and affiliates in over 30 countries. History ''War Resisters' International'' was founded in Bilthoven, Netherlands in 1921 unde ...

(WRI) for several decades, serving in its London office as general secretary from 1962 to 1972 prior to his term as chair from 1972 to 1975. His history of the organization, ''War is a Crime Against Humanity: The story of War Resisters' International'', was published in 2005. Devi Prasad died in Delhi on 1 June 2011.''The Times of India'', "Prominent artist Devi Prasad dies in Delhi" ,

References

External links

Devi Prasad's interview

Indian male painters Photographers from Uttar Pradesh Indian anti-war activists Indian potters 1921 births 2011 deaths Indian art educators 20th-century Indian photographers 20th-century Indian painters 20th-century Indian male artists {{India-artist-stub

Early life

Career, peace activism and death

See also

References

External links