Paritosh Sen was born in 1918, Dhaka (now in Bangladesh) and passed away in 2008. Paritosh did his Diploma in Fine Arts at the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Madras in 1940. In 1942 he became the founder member of Calcutta Group. For further studies he went to Academie Andre Lhote in Paris and also studied painting at Academie de la Grande Chaumiere, Murals at Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts and History of painting at Ecole du Louvre between the periods 1950-53. He has been honoured with a French fellowship for Designing and Typeface in 1969-70 and John D. Rockfeller III grant in 1970-71. He is a recipient of Abanindra Puraskar from the government of West Bengal. During his long and illustrious career he has held over 30 solo shows all over India and abroad. He has also participated in over 100 group shows and exhibited at The Commonwealth Arts Festival, London, 1965 & 1986; Sao Paulo Biennale, Brazil in 1965, II Havana Biennale, Cuba in 1986.
"The success of a painting lies in the artist's willingness to deal with each painting on its own terms."
A painter, illustrator, tutor and writer, Paritosh Sen has been a part of the world of Indian art, for close to four decades now. Sen's more recognizable works are his caricatures, which reflect strong underlying socio-political shades, and his female nude drawings. His style of representation is influenced by his exposure to Western Modern art, and has traces of cubism. He uses two dimensional, structured planes but still creates an illusion of voluptuousness.
His drawings and paintings are noted for their strong lines and bold, stylised strokes. Although colour is an important aspect of his paintings, it is the human figure, expressing a myriad of emotions, that dominates his art. A recurrent subject in Sen's works is his depiction of scenes from everyday urban life. These activities are rendered from a cynical and detached perspective, which is typically Sen's viewpoint.
A prolific writer, Sen had published many works in both Bengali and in English, including a series of autobiographical vignettes titled 'Jindabahar Lane'. His works have been exhibited in India and internationally, in Paris, London, Germany, Tokyo and in the US.
