K.S. Kulkarni

Born on 17 April 1918 in Karnataka, Krishnaji Shamrao Kulkarni studied at the Sir J.J. School of Art, Bombay. He was also a research scholar at Sir Ratan Tata Trust, Bombay.

Kulkarni’s art gradually evolved and was inspired by the decorative grace of the classical Indian figures in the Ajanta murals and the Chola bronzes and the vitality of modernism. He combined these two styles in his figurative works. Primarily, a figurative artist, he did not create any style of his own, but rather kept painting in various styles excelling in each both craft wise as well as in high aesthetic terms. He was also a master of line and a frugal user of colour. His work however compares with the best in contemporary Indian art and is now a part of art history.

He received a fellowship of outstanding contribution to art, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi in 1984. In 1985 he was appointed National Emeritus Professor by the Government of India for outstanding contribution to art. In 1986 he received Parishad Samman by Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi and had a retrospective exhibition sponsored by Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta. For 1987-91 he was a visiting professor at Delhi College for Art. In 1988, K. S. Kulkarni, a monograph, was published by Lalit Kala Akademi.

He founded the world famous art and culture organisation Triveni Kala Sangam in 1948 where he served as the Director of the Art Department till 1968. He was also one of the founding members of the Delhi Silpi Chakra.

K.S. Kulkarni had several solo shows in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata as well as in many cities of USA, Europe, Japan and Egypt. He has participated in many major exhibitions both in India and abroad.

The artist passed away in 1994.