Gobardhan Ash

About Gobardhan Ash

Gobardhan Ash was a close contemporary of the early stalwarts of Modernism in India. In 1926, he joined the Government School, Calcutta, but was not satisfied with what he learnt there over the next four years. He joined the Government School of Art in Madras in 1930, where Debi Prasad Roychowdhury was the principal. It was under Debi Prasad that he was initiated into the school of rugged realism. He joined the 'Calcutta Group' of 1943, and much later, in 1956, he started teaching at the Indian College of Art & Draughtsmanship. A prolific artist, he painted many portraits, self-portraits, landscapes and the spontaneity of children's activities. However, it was the Bengal Famine of 1943 that inspired him to change his technique of painting. His Famine series was remembered with great respect, along with those of Chittaprosad and Zainul Abedin. He was awarded the Abanindra Puraskar by the Government of West Bengal in 1984, and in 1996 was felicitated by the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi. His paintings could be found in the permanent collection of The National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi; Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta; Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Calcutta; Museum of Bengal Modern Art, Calcutta; Kolkata High Court; Gajah Art Gallery, Singapore; Scottish Church College, Kolkata; and Osian's, Mumbai, among others.