Bikash Bhattacharjee

1940

Born on June 21 in Calcutta

1958

Joins the Indian College of Art and Draftsmanship for a diploma in fine arts

1962

Receives an award from the Academy of Fine Art, Calcutta

1963

Graduates with a diploma in fine arts. Develops a style that is simultaneously traditional as well as realist; his subjects hail from the Bengali middle class, their daily lives, aspirations as also the crumbling buildings and rooftops of north Calcutta, where he grew up; he also paints violence, a common feature on the turbulent streets of Calcutta at the time.

Right from his student days, and throughout his career, the artist paints the female figure in a variety of forms—as ordinary women going about their daily chores, upper class women mocked in their refined existence, women in red light districts with their practical wisdom and indignations; some of these develop into well-known series such as She and Durga.

1964

Is inducted as a member of the highly influential Society of Contemporary Artists, Calcutta, which was formed in 1959.

1965

Holds his first solo exhibition at Artistry House, Calcutta, and at the Tata Iron and Steel Company, Jamshedpur.

1968

Participates in the first International Triennale held in New Delhi. Joins his alma mater, Indian College of Art and Draftsmanship, as professor.

1969

Participates in the IV Triennale in Paris.

1970-72

Has exhibitions in Yugoslavia, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. Moves into a shared studio with Parsi artist Katayun Saklat at 52, Chowringhee Lane. This transition marks his shift to larger canvases.

1971

Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta, holds an exhibition on the artist’s famous Doll series. Receives Lalit Kala Akademi’s national award, and again the following year. Participates in the second International Triennale, New Delhi. Makes an ink and wash portrait of Rabindranath Tagore. Goes on to develop a robust body of portraits of well-known past and contemporary personalities such as Jagadish Chandra Bose, M. F. Husain, Mother Teresa, Indira Gandhi and more; does a portrait of Indira Gandhi after her assassination too; becomes popular with patrons seeking commissioned portraits.

1973

Starts teaching at the Government College of Art and Craft, Calcutta; continues for the next nine years. Marries Parbati.

1975

Participates in the third International Triennale, New Delhi.

1980s

Starts making illustrations for a book by Bengali novelist Samaresh Basu on the life of Ramkinkar Baij, the renowned sculptor-painter. Considered some of his best works, the illustrations remain unpublished as the book is not completed due to the death of the author.

1982

Is part of the Festival of India’s exhibition, ‘Contemporary Indian Art’, at the Royal Academy of Arts, London.

1986

Exhibits works from his She series at the Taj Art Gallery, Bombay, and Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Calcutta. Is part of the Festival of India concurrently in New York, Boston, Geneva, and Moscow.

1987

Is honoured with the Bangla Ratna award by the state government of West Bengal.

1988

Awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. His Durga series portrays the divine goddess as a woman.

1991

His Homage series is exhibited at the Victoria Memorial, Calcutta.

1993

His Wounds series is exhibited at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.

2000

Suffers a paralytic stroke that leaves him incapable of painting. Centre of International Modern Art, Kolkata, holds a month-long exhibition of his works to mark his sixtieth birthday.

2004

Is awarded the Lalit Kala Akademi fellowship, the highest honour of the country’s national art academy.

2006

D.Litt. from Kalyani University, West Bengal. Passes away on December 18 in Kolkata. Close to Events: Works of Bikash Bhattacharjee by Manasij Majumder is published posthumously.