(1898 – 1968)
Manindra Bhushan Gupta was born in Dhaka in 1898. He was an Indian modern artist. In 1909, he joined the residential Brahmacharya Ashram at Santiniketan. In 1921, he began studying at Kala Bhavana in Santiniketan, where his teacher was Nandalal Bose and he was one of the first students at Kala Bhavana, where he was taught by Nandalal Bose. He grew as an artist alongside Benode Behari and Ram Kinkar Baij, all learning in the same environment at the same time. In addition to his art, Manindra Bhushan also wrote a lot about art history and biographies of artists. His works had a lasting impact on his students at the Government School of Art in Kolkata.
Ananda College in Sri Lanka requested to Rabindranath Tagore to send an artist to lead their new Fine Arts department. Bhushan was chosen and he went to Colombo in February 1925 to become head of the drawing department at Ananda College. He stayed there for three years until 1927. While in Sri Lanka, he traveled a lot. He walked long distances and visited many old sites and Buddhist monasteries. He found a lot of inspiration from Sri Lanka's art and its beautiful landscapes. He made copies of paintings at places like Sigiriya and Polonnaruwa, and he went to Anuradhapura and Kandy too.
He painted many Indian Mythological subjects and Bengal landscapes. He worked in watercolors, temperas, oils, woodcuts brush and pen drawings. The works is reminiscent of the traditional Indian painting style. Also, his painting’s style shows influence from Ajanta cave paintings.
Manindra Bhushan Gupta passed away in February 1968.
