Krishna Shamrao Kulkarni

Krishna Shamrao Kulkarni (7 April 1916 – 7 October 1994) was an Indian painter and an educator. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1948 Summer Olympics. He was the founder-president of the avant-garde artist movement, the Delhi Shilpi Chakra.

Kulkarni created paintings that were at the confluence of tradition & modern art values and influenced by styles he witnessed during his travels abroad. His ideas, technical skills and teaching has influenced the work of many contemporary painters who have trained in the art institutes of Delhi and Varanasi. Being interested in painting since childhood, he wanted to pursue arts at the Bombay school. However, after the death of his father, he struggled to earn a livelihood and pay for school. To make ends meet, Kulkarni worked as a painter of signboards and movie banners in the early 1930s. He then attended Sir J. J. School of Art from 1935 to 1940 in Mumbai and earned a G. D. Art in Painting. Subsequently, in the year 1942 he completed a two-year post-graduate course in murals from the same institute. Shortly after, he received a research scholarship for 1941 to 1943 from Tata Trusts to study Indian painting. Kulkarni was also associated with the Quit India Movement in 1942.

Career After completing his education, Kulkarni was offered a job as a designer at a textile mill in Delhi. Even though he wasn't formally trained for this job, he decided to accept it due to the financial conditions of the family. Gradually, he acquired the necessary skills in a short period of time which impressed the mill owner. After his year-long probation, he was made a permanent employee with a salary of Rs. 350 per month. However, he was bugged by the transfers in his job and the imposing nature of the mill owner. He thought that this work wasn't useful for him, which is why he left this job in 1945.

In the same year, Kulkarni decided to teach students and joined the art department of Delhi Polytechnic. Alongside his role as a teacher, he was one of the founders of the Triveni Kala Sangam. He also became the founder-president of Delhi Shilpi Chakra - an artists' group which was established in 1949 to encourage and inspire young progressive thinkers in the Delhi area. This was the time when Kulkarni gained recognition not only as an institution builder but also for his kind nature as a teacher and an artist. Further, he traveled to Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, and Brazil where he learned and studied their art. He was also invited by the governments of the USA, USSR, Germany, Poland, Mexico, South Korea, Netherlands and the UK as a guest artist.

Style Kulkarni worked between figuration and abstraction which led to a constant evolution of his style over the course of his career. During his travels abroad, he absorbed the life there and refined a style authentic to his origins at home. He did not follow orthodox styles and embraced the bold, deliberate lines of modernism. His depiction of human figures combined the classical figures of the Ajanta murals, the Chola bronzes along with a touch of modernism. In his later works, the stylistic influence of Pablo Picasso's Cubism is markedly visible that merge with the forms of traditional Indian folk and tribal art.

Themes In the works of Kulkarni, the themes mainly revolved around the daily life, with rural scenes being the subject of a large number of his works. They were portrayed with empathy but not with a sentimental tone.

Major exhibitions

1945 - First solo exhibition at All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society (AIFACS), Delhi 1959 - Participated in São Paulo Art Biennial, Brazil 1986 - A retrospective exhibition by Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta 2021 - Home and Away, Aicon Gallery, New York

Public collections

National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi Kumar Gallery, New Delhi

Awards and honours

1947 - Bronze medal at the International Exhibition in London 1955, 1962 & 1965 - National Award by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi 1982 - Fellow of Lalit Kala Akademi 1985 - Appointed National Emeritus Professor by the Government of India for outstanding contribution to art 1986 - Parishad Samman by Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi

Death and legacy Kulkarni died on 7 October 1994.

According to his will, K. S. Kulkarni Trust and annual scholarship programs were established to encourage young artists.

In 1988, K. S. Kulkarni, a monograph on the artist, was published by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi. Kulkarni, a film on the life of the artist was produced by Vanessa H. Smith, which premiered in 1996. In 2000, another documentary titled K. S. Kulkarni: Saintly Great Master by Chandramani Kohli was released.