Ganesh Haloi

1936

Born on February 9 in Jamalpur village in Mymensingh district in present-day Bangladesh.

1952

Joins Government College of Arts and Crafts and graduates in 1956.

1955

Wins gold medal from the Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta, and again in 1956, 1957, 1963, 1964, 1966 and 1970.

1957

Joins the Archaeological Survey of India as a sketcher to make copies of the Ajanta cave paintings; continues till 1963. Years later, he would remember his time spent there fondly: ‘I was drowned in an ocean of creativity’. Around the same time, in the early 1960s, he begins his artistic career as a painter of landscapes.

1962

First solo show at Artistry House, Calcutta.

1963

Returns to Calcutta and joins the Government College of Arts and Crafts where he teaches till his retirement.

1967

Participates in the annual group shows of the Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta, and All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi, every year through 1995.

1970s

By the middle of this decade, establishes himself as an accomplished landscape painter who evokes metaphysical essence in ordinary landscapes

1971

Is inducted as a member of the prestigious Society of Contemporary Artists, Calcutta; participates in all its annual group exhibitions from 1971 to 1995.

1978

The Metascape series marks the culmination of the transformation that began earlier in the decade, demarcating a gradual transition from realism to abstraction; goes on to build a formidable body of work that depicts nature in abstract form beyond visual documentation.

1987

Participates in group show at the Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta. Is featured in group show, ‘Metascapes’, at Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Calcutta

1991

Is part of ‘Indian Contemporary Artists: Multiculturalism and Internationalism through Art’ in Melbourne. Receives the Shiromani Puraskar and the Rabindra Bharati award, both conferred by the Government of India.

1993

‘Wounds’, a group show, at C.I.M.A., Calcutta, and National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, features Haloi. Participates in another group show at Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay.

1994

Is part of ‘Indian Contemporary Art’ at Gallery Maya, Hong Kong.

1995

Is part of a group show on watercolourists at Bose Pacia, New York

1998

Is part of a ‘Metascapes’ group show in Kolkata and Chennai.

2002

His work is included in a group show curated by Manjit Bawa for Societe Asiatique in Gurgaon.

2005

Participates in ‘Drishti/Vision: Indian Contemporary Artists’ at Valentine Willie Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur. Is part of joint exhibition ‘As Within So Without’ with Prabhakar Kolte in Mumbai.

2006

‘An Art Sublime’ at Aicon Gallery, New York: a solo show on Ganesh Haloi Galerie Müller & Plate, Munich, exhibits works by Ambadas, Haloi, Rajendra Dhawan, Kolte and Tun Sein.

2007

One-man show at Art Musings, Mumbai. Solo show ‘Unwanted’ at Gallery Sanskriti, Kolkata.

2008

Is represented at Shanghai Art Fair. Participates in group show ‘Moderns’ at Royal Cultural Centre, Amman, Jordan, organised by the Lalit Kala Akademi.

2010

Is part of ‘Above and Beyond and Figure/Landscape: Part Two’ at Aicon Gallery, London.

2013

One-man show, ‘Ganesh Haloi in Linear Abstraction’at Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts, Dhaka.

2017

Haloi’s works feature in Documenta 14, both at Athens, Greece (April 8-July 16) and Kassel, Germany (June 10-September 17).

2019

Publishes Amar Katha, an autobiography. The artist lives and works in Kolkata.