(1939 – 1997)
Dharmanarayan Dasgupta was born in Tripura, West Bengal. 1939. He Studied Diploma in Fine Arts, Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan in 1960. He spent most of his life within the Calcutta art community, where he built his career. By the late 1970s, he had developed a unique style that made him well-known. His main medium was a special kind of egg tempera on canvas, with a finishing touch done using a mouth spray.
Dasgupta’s artwork featured a set of familiar characters and scenes, often showing humor, mischief, and satire. These included plump men (babus), curvy women, and later, unsettling images of disembodied heads and tube-like limbs that strangely seemed to glow from still life objects. He adapted stylistic elements from the 19th century Kalighat patachitra tradition. The figures and objects seem to float in an imagined space where the artist controls gravity. They move, glide, or crouch, reflecting different layers of mental exploration. Most of his work is a nostalgic reflection into a childhood and youth spent in Dinajpur. His paintings reflect the inequalities, injustices, and harsh realities of society. . According to him, "For the common man, life is full of challenges, and it is this struggle of everyday people that inspires me to paint and bring their stories to light.
Dharmanarayan Dasgupta passed away in 1997.
