A founder member of the Progressive Artists’ Group, K. H. Ara evolved his trademark style especially his robust nudes and still-life paintings that are ineffably marked by a life-affirming zeitgeist. A self-taught artist who was born into penury and imprisoned for participating in Mahatma Gandhi’s salt satyagraha movement, Ara became an exemplar of a modern artist who pursued and practiced art in spite of the adverse circumstances of his life in Bombay.

He was a modernist for whom the form and language of art preceded all other social and political motivations. K. H. Ara won several awards in his lifetime, beginning with the annual prizes of the Bombay Art Society, the Governor’s Prize, and an award from UNESCO, all before Independence. He was founder and secretary of the Artists’ Aid Centre and trustee of the Jehangir Art Gallery, both in Bombay, and was both fellow and general council member of the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi.

WORK

Untitled
by K H Ara
Oil on Canvas

Untitled
by K H Ara
Oil on Jute

Untitled- Still Life
by K H Ara
Watercolour on Paper

ESSAYS

Ara

by Rudolf von Leyden

For twenty-five years Ara has been a presence in the art life of Bombay. It is not as if his work has been revolutionary or a contributing factor to the break-through of contemporary styles. It cannot even be said that he has been an influence on successive generations of young artists or that the upheavals,

K H Ara

Ara

NOTICEBOARD

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