Laxman Pai

Laxman Pai (21 January 1926 – 14 March 2021) was an Indian artist and painter. He was a principal of the Goa College of Art, a post he held from 1977 to 1987. Pai was a recipient of several awards including India's third highest civilian honour of Padma Bhushan, awarded by the Government of India.

Early life Pai was born in a Gaud Saraswat Brahmin family in Margão, Portuguese Goa, on 21 January 1926. His native family name was Pai Fondekar, also known as Sambari. He received his primary education at Damodar Vidyalaya and also completed the second grade in Portuguese at the Government School in Margao, before completing his matriculation at New Era High School.

His tryst with art began at his uncle Ramnath Mauzo's Mauzo Photo Studio in Margao at the age of 12 or 13, where he used to touch up black and white photographs with paint. He was beaten by the Portuguese police after being arrested. Following his matriculation, at the instigation of his uncle and the painter Dinanath Dalal, his parents sent him to the city of Bombay. There he studied at the Sir J. J. School of Art in Mumbai from 1943 to 1947. He was awarded the Mayo Medal in 1947.

Career Soon after completing his studies, Pai started teaching at the Sir J. J. School of Art.

Pai returned to India in 1953 and staged an exhibition in Delhi, followed by a show in Mumbai in 1954; however, his work did not receive a favourable response in India at the time, and he returned to Paris in 1954.

Returning to India, he took up the post of the principal of the Goa College of Art in 1977 and served the institution until 1987. He was instrumental in creating the new college campus in Altinho area of Panaji.

Death Pai died on 14 March 2021, at his home in Dona Paula in Goa. He was aged 95.

Awards Lalit Kala Akademi award, three times (1961, 1963, 1972) Honoured by the Government of Goa, Daman and Diu (1983)