Manu Parekh is an Indian painter, known for his several paintings on the city of

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

. Reported to be influenced by

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 ...

and

Ram Kinker Baij Ramkinkar Baij ( bn, রামকিঙ্কর বেইজ) (25 May 1906 – 2 August 1980) was an Indian sculptor and painter, one of the pioneers of modern Indian sculpture and a key figure of Contextual Modernism. Early life and ...

, Parekh is a recipient of the 1982

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 ...

Award. 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 ...

awarded him the fourth highest civilian award of the

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, ...

, in 1991.

Biography

Parekh was born in 1939 in Ahmedabad, in the Indian state of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

and graduated in Arts from the

Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art The Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy School of Art (Sir J. J. School of Art) is the oldest art institution in Mumbai, India, and is affiliated with the University of Mumbai. The school grants bachelor's degrees in fine art and sculpture, and Master's de ...

, Mumbai in 1962 where he had the opportunity to train under Mukund Shroff. Later he also had a short stint at the

National School of Drama National School of Drama (NSD) is a theatre training institute situated at New Delhi, India. It is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It was set up in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and became an indepe ...

. Starting his career in the theatre, he worked as an actor and stage designer for one year and joined ''Weavers' Service Centre'',

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Pupul Jayakar Pupul Jayakar (née Mehta; 11 September 1915 – 29 March 1997) was an Indian cultural activist and writer, best known for her work on the revival of traditional and village arts, handlooms, and handicrafts in post-independence India. Accor ...

as art designer in 1963 where he stayed for two years. He shifted his base to

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

in 1965 and, in 1974, moved to

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

, joining

Handicrafts and Handlooms Export Corporation of India Handicrafts and Handlooms Export Corporation of India was an agency of Ministry of Textiles, Government of India established in 1958 with main objectives to undertake exports of handicrafts, handlooms products, khadi and products of village indust ...

as a Design Consultant. He left the corporation later to pursue his career as a freelance artist. Parekh has had several group exhibitions and the ''Modern Painting'' exhibition 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 ...

in 1982, ''Hirschhom Muse'' exhibition at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, Washington DC the same year and the travelling exhibition, ''Seven Artists'' are some of the notable ones. Apart from the solo shows at Bose Pacia Modern in New York and at ARKS Gallery in London, ''Small Drawings'' at Sophia Duchesne Art Gallery, Mumbai in 1991, ''Ritual Oblations'' at Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi in 1999, ''Portraits of Flower and Landscapes of River'' at Jehangir Art Gallery and Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 2003, ''Banaras'' at Vadehra Art Gallery, in 2004 and ''Banaras – Eternity Watches Time'' at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 2007 were the notable among his solo exhibitions. He has participated in two Triennales in India in 1975 and 1978 and HelpAge India has utilised his works for mobilising funds by presenting them at auctions at Sotheby's, Bombay in 1989 and Andasprey (U.K.) in 1991. Parekh has served as the Exhibition Commissioner for ''

Madhubani Painting Mithila painting is a style of painting practiced in the Mithila region of India and Nepal. Artists create these paintings using a variety of mediums, including their own fingers, or twigs, brushes, nib-pens, and matchstick. The paint is crea ...

'' show in Italy and Denmark and ''Contemporary Indian Painting'' at the Festival of India at Stockholm in 1987. After the Birla Academy of Art and Culture award of 1971, he received 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 ...

(AIFACS) award and the Silver Plaque of the President of India in 1972. AIFACS award came his way once more in 1974 and in 1982, he received the National Art Award from the

. Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta honoured him again in 1991 and the Government of India included him in the Republic Day Honours list, the same year, for the civilian honour of the

. Parekh is married to well known contemporary artist Madhvi. The couple has been living in New Delhi ever since1974.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parekh, Manu Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts 1939 births Artists from Ahmedabad Indian male painters 20th-century Indian painters Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art alumni Living people Painters from Gujarat 20th-century Indian male artists

Biography

See also

References

External links