Sudhir Ranjan Khastgir (24 September 1907 – 6 June 1974) was an Indian

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

Bengal school of art The Bengal School of Art, commonly referred as Bengal School, was an art movement and a style of Indian painting that originated in Bengal, primarily Kolkata and Shantiniketan, and flourished throughout the Indian subcontinent, during the Britis ...

and an art educator. A pupil of

Abanindranath Tagore Abanindranath Tagore (Bengali: অবনীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 August 1871 – 5 December 1951) was the principal artist and creator of the "Indian Society of Oriental Art". He was also the first major exponent of Swa ...

and

Nandalal Bose Nandalal Bose (3 December 1882 – 16 April 1966) was one of the pioneers of modern Indian art and a key figure of Contextual Modernism. A pupil of Abanindranath Tagore, Bose was known for his "Indian style" of painting. He became the principa ...

, Sudhir was known for "Indian style" of painting. He graduated from

Visva-Bharati University Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the w ...

Santiniketan 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 ...

in 1929. He was influenced by the

Tagore family The Tagore family (also spelled as ''Thakur''), with over three hundred years of history,Deb, Chitra, pp 64–65. has been one of the leading families of Calcutta, India, and is regarded as one of the key influencers during the Bengali Renaiss ...

and his classic works include paintings of scenes from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n mythologies, women, and village life. He was also the first Art teacher at

The Doon School The Doon School (informally Doon School or Doon) is a selective all-boys boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, which was established in 1935. It was envisioned by Satish Ranjan Das, a lawyer from Calcutta, who prevised a school mode ...

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...

, when it opened in 1935. Today, the many statues and murals on display at Doon, and frescoes of dancers at the entrance of a local cinema hall, 'The Orient', are a product of his creation.

Life and career

Sudhir was born in

Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

in 1907. He soon moved 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 ...

, India for his schooling. After graduating from the

, he went to

Academy of Fine Arts, Munich The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (german: Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, ...

to study Fine Arts on a scholarship. After returning from Munich, he became the first Arts master at the newly opened

. He remained in Doon for the next 20 years. During this period, he also directed some dance-dramas based on the

works of Rabindranath Tagore The works of Rabindranath Tagore consist of poems, novels, short stories, dramas, paintings, drawings, and music that Bengali people, Bengali poet and Brahmo philosopher Rabindranath Tagore created over his lifetime. Tagore's literary reputation ...

. While at Doon, he achieved considerable national fame and was invited by the

Uttar Pradesh Government The Government of Uttar Pradesh (ISO: Uttar Pradesh Sarkār; often abbreviated as GoUP) is the subnational government of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with the governor as its appointed constitutional head of the state by the President of I ...

to head

Lucknow College of Arts and Crafts The Lucknow College of Arts and Crafts (LCAC), also known as the Government College of Arts and Crafts (GCAC) or simply the College of Arts and Crafts (CAC), was founded in 1911. It is affiliated to University of Lucknow. Sri Alok Kumar is princ ...

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

(

University of Lucknow The University of Lucknow (informally known as Lucknow University, and LU) is a public state university based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Founded in 1920, the University of Lucknow is one of the oldest government owned institutions of higher edu ...

) in 1956. He was awarded 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, ...

award by

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 1957, for his significant contributions to Indian art.

Family

His elder brother, Satish Ranjan Khastgir, was a noted physicist. His daughter Shyamoli Khastgir, an environmental activist, once married to architect, Lee Tan (son of Chinese scholar of Santiniketan Tan Yun-Shan) lives in Purba Palli, Shantiniketan.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography
Sudhir Ranjan Khastgir
by S.R. Khastgir, Gallerie 88, 2008
Myself
by Sudhir Khastgir, 1955
Sudhir Ranjan
by Khastgir, Lalit Kala Academi 1978.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khastgir, Sudhir Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts 1907 births 1974 deaths The Doon School faculty Visva-Bharati University alumni Indian art educators Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni Academic staff of the University of Lucknow 20th-century Indian painters Artists from Kolkata Painters from West Bengal