Dhanraj Bhagat (1917–1988) was an Indian sculptor, considered by many as one of the major sculptors of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

. He was born in 1917 in Lahore, in the erstwhile

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

and secured a diploma in sculpture from the

National College of Arts The National College of Arts (colloquially known as NCA) is a public university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Overview National College of Arts - A Federal Chartered Institute is the oldest art school in Pakistan and the second oldest i ...

(formerly known as Mayo School of Art), Lahore. His career started as a member of the faculty at the

College of Art, Delhi College of Art, New Delhi, established in 1942 under the arts department of the Delhi College of Engineering now the Delhi Technological University (DTU), is an art college for advanced training in Visual Art. It is run by the Government of ...

in 1947 where he rose to the position of the head of the Sculpture Department by the time of his retirement in 1977. Bhagat participated in the first three Triennales staged in India, The All India Sculpture Exhibition in 1954 and many exhibitions held at galleries such as Bombay Art Society, the

Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata The Academy of Fine Arts, in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) is one of the oldest fine arts societies in India. History The academy was formally established in 1933 by Lady Ranu Mukherjee. It was initially located in a room loaned by the India ...

, and the

All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society The All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS) is an independent arts organisation in India, founded in Delhi in 1928. In the decade after Indian independence, many of its functions were transferred to three national academies: Lalit Kala A ...

, New Delhi. The

Lalit Kala Akademi The Lalit Kala Akademi or National Academy of Art (LKA) is India's national academy of fine arts. It is an autonomous organisation, established in New Delhi in 1954 by Government of India to promote and propagate understanding of Indian art, i ...

hosted a retrospective of Bhagat in 1978 and his works are exhibited at the

National Gallery of Modern Art National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, among other art galleries. Though he worked on several media like papier-mache, aluminium, copper and stone, most of his known works are in wood and is characterized by their geometric shapes. He also produced many drawings towards the later part of his life. Bhagat was the first prize winner at two art competitions conducted by Punjab Fine Arts Society, Lahore in 1937 and 1945 and he won the first prize at two more competitions by

in 1947 and 1949. He received the Bombay Art Society award twice, in 1948 and 1949, and the Gold Medal from

in 1948.

, New Delhi awarded him their national honour in 1961 and he received the state award from the

Sahitya Kala Parishad Sahitya Kala Parishad (साहित्य कला परिषद) (Academy of Performing and Fine Arts) is the Cultural wing of the Govt. of National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT) of Delhi for music, dance, drama & fine arts, established ...

, Delhi in 1969. He was awarded the fourth highest Indian civilian honour of

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

in 1977. Dhanraj Bhagat died in 1988 at the age of 71. The Government College of Art,

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

, an offshoot of the former Mayo School of Art where Bhagat did his art training, established a sculpture park at its premises in 2010, named after the alumni. Some of Bhagat's works are on display at Government Museum, Chandigarh.

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* Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts 1917 births 1988 deaths Indian male sculptors People from Lahore Fellows of the Lalit Kala Akademi National College of Arts alumni 20th-century Indian sculptors 20th-century Indian male artists {{India-artist-stub

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