K. S. Kulkarni

Forced to paint signboards at the age of eleven when his father died, Krishna Shamrao Kulkarni battled numerous early struggles to achieve a pre-eminent place in modern Indian art.

Born in a village in Belgaum in Karnataka in 1916, Kulkarni engaged with modernist techniques and mediums to create a highly individuated pictorial language.

Kulkarni imbued his figurative works with the classical grace of Ajanta paintings and a distinctive modernist spirit. If some works evoked village life and seemed to carry the melody of a flute being played in the distance, his cityscapes showed tightly packed blocks rising up in strong outlines. However, he neither idealised rural life nor disparaged urban existence—choosing to paint life as he experienced it.

On completing his diploma from Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay, Kulkarni shifted to Delhi in 1943 to work in textile design. Along with other artists who had moved from Lahore to Delhi following Partition, he became a member of the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society, and was founder-president of Delhi Silpi Chakra. He was also a founder member of Triveni Kala Sangam, the multi-arts complex in New Delhi. From 1973-78, he served as the vice-chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi.

Kulkarni exhibited his works widely and travelled extensively, especially to South America, with Mayan and Etruscan art inspiring his visual language. A winner of several national and international awards, he passed away in 1994.