Sudhir Ranjan Khastgir

Sudhir Ranjan Khastgir’s (1907-1974) oeuvre possesses a lyrical fluidity that lends a dreamy, poetic aura to the portrayed subjects, moods, and scenes. In fact, it won’t be an exaggeration to say that many of his artworks are poetry in motion. A well-known painter of India’s Bengal school lineage and an art educator, Sudhir Ranjan Khastgir is known for both his paintings and sculptures.

Born in Chittagong Bangladesh, Khastgir graduated from the Visva Bharti University at Santiniketan in 1929. Under the guidance of masters like Nandlal Bose and Abanindranath Tagore, he received expert training in art.

Khastgir’s art embodies his free and exuberant script. Pristine, and unpretentious, they portray a myriad of shades of the lives of common people. He mostly chose commonplace subjects for his art and by the magic of his creation, transformed these into sublime melodies. Compulsively, he portrayed ordinary women, dancers, musicians, farmers, and pedestrians.

Khastgir was a multi-faceted artist. Apart from painting, he is equally known for his prints and sculptures while being an accomplished singer who played flute with considerable skill. He did portraits of a number of eminent Indian and British personalities including Jawaharlal Nehru and Rabindranath Tagore.

Khastgir became the first art teacher at the newly opened Doon School in 1935, where he taught for more than 20 years. Also, he had held many art exhibitions across India and Europe. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Art in 1937. Subsequently, he also worked as the Principal of the College of Arts and Crafts, Lucknow for many years until his retirement. In 1952, Sudhir Ranjan Khastgir had received the eminent Indian government award Padma Shri.