Om Prakash Sharma

Om Prakash Sharma (born 14 December 1932) is an Indian painter, visual artist, professor, writer and sitarist based in New Delhi, India. He was bestowed with National Award for Painting of Lalit Kala Akademi in 1969, by the President of India. Sharma has won All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society's Annual Art Exhibitions thrice in 1966, 1967 and 1969, and has been awarded with multiple awards at various state exhibitions.

Early life and education Sharma was born in 1932, in Bawal, Haryana. He attended Meerut College where he graduated in drawing and paintings in 1951. Sharma earned The National Diploma in Fine Arts in 1958 from Delhi Polytechnic with First Class and Distinction. From 1964 to 1966, Sharma attended Columbia University and Art Students League of New York as a Fulbright scholar where he completed his postgraduate studies in Fine Arts and Art History. His work as an artist has been centered around New Delhi. Sharma is known primarily as a practitioner of a uniquely Indian visual style. Sharma started his career as an artist in 1956 during annual exhibition at All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society in Delhi. He is regarded as one of the founders of the Neo-Tantra art movement.

Sharma started playing sitar in 1956 when he came in contact with Pandit Ravi Shankar, who helped him in identifying the traditional iconography of different ragas which inspired him to paint 25 Ragmala paintings in water colors. Influence of music has always inspired visual rhythms of Sharma's work. Sharma has written about art in several art magazines and art columns. He has been an invited keynote speaker at various public talks organized by art societies, museums and institutions in India and abroad, on his paintings in context of contemporary art and the tradition of tantra art. He had also held positionof advisor to various art committees such Boards of education, Parliament House Complex, HUDCO, Urban Arts Commission and several University Counsels. Sharma has also authored several books including Art in Art in 1994, Om Prakash - Forty Years 1958 - 1998 in 1999 and Om Prakash- Sixty Years 1951 - 2012 in 2013.

Sharma has received several awards, including three first prizes in Annual Art Exhibitions of the AIFACS, New Delhi. He was awarded the National Award for Painting of Lalit Kala Akademi in 1969. He was also awarded the Delhi State Award from the Chief Minister of Delhi in 2003. In 2008, Sharma received Life Time Achievement Award from ART MALL, New Delhi.

Awards and accolades 1966- First prize at All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society's Annual Art Exhibitions 1967- First prize at All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society's Annual Art Exhibitions 1969- First prize at All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society's Annual Art Exhibitions 1969 - National Award for Painting of Lalit Kala Akademi. 2003 - Delhi State Award from the Chief Minister of Delhi. Honorary membership of Russian Academy of Arts, Moscow. Lifetime Achievement Award by ART MALL, New Delhi in 2008

Solo exhibitions

1958 - Hotel Rex, Delhi 1959 - AIFACS, New Delhi 1959 - AIFACS, New Delhi 1961 - AIFACS, New Delhi 1963 - AIFACS, New Delhi 1963 - Ashoka Gallery, Calcutta 1964 - Kumar Gallery, New Delhi 1965 - Artistica Gallery, Long Island, USA 1965 - Duncan Gallery, New York City, USA 1967 - Kumar Gallery, New Delhi 1968 - Kumar Gallery, New Delhi 1969 - Kumar Gallery, New Delhi 1970 - Kumar Gallery, New Delhi 1971 - Gallery Chanakya, New Delhi 1972 - Gallery Chanakya, New Delhi 1973 - Fair Field University Gallery, Connecticut USA 1973 - St. John the Divine Gallery, New York, USA 1974 - Gallery Chanakya, New Delhi 1975 - Gallery Chanakya, New Delhi

1975 - Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai 1976 - Solar Gallery, New York, USA 1977 - Kumar Gallery, New Delhi 1978 - Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai 1980 - Lalit Kala Gallery, New Delhi 1981 - Ancient Currents Gallery, San Francisco, USA 1985 - Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi 1986 - Gallery Chemould, Mumbai 1988 - Gallery Aurobindo, New Delhi 1988 - Shridharani Gallery, New Delhi 1989 - Asia & Pacific Museum, Warsaw, Poland 1989 - Sian Gallery, Pusan, South Korea 1990 - Shridharani Gallery, New Delhi 1990 - International Friendship House, Moscow and Riga 1991 - Shridharani Gallery, New Delhi 1991 - World Wide Gallery, New York, USA 1991 - Gallery Roman Rolland, New Delhi 1992 - Hotel Hyatt Regency, New Delhi 1994 - LTG Gallery, New Delhi

1994 - World Wide Gallery, New York, USA 1995 - Aurobindo Gallery, New Delhi 1996 - LTG Gallery, New Delhi 1998 - LTG Gallery, New Delhi 1998 - Indian High Commission, Port Louis, Mauritius 1999 - Max Mueller Bhavan, New Delhi 1999 - Shoman Foundation, Amman, Jordan 1999 - St. Raphael Gallery, London, England 2000 - Honjo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan 2001 - Gallery Zen, Bangalore, India 2002 - S. Art Gallery, Moscow, Russia 2003 - The Grand Hotel, New Delhi 2003 - Pioneer Gallery, New Delhi 2005 - Visual Art Gallery, Indian Habitat Center, New Delhi 2006 - Embassy of Slovak Republic, New Delhi 2007 - Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi 2012 - Alliance Francaise, New Delhi 2013 - Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi 2016-17 - Marin County Foundation, Novada, San Francisco, USA

Group exhibitions

1956 to 1969 - AIFACS, New Delhi, Annual Exhibitions. 1961 - A.I.R, New Delhi, Exhibition on Theme of Music 1963 - Three Painters Inaugural Show, Chemould Gallery, Mumbai 1963 - Exhibition for National Defence Fund, L.K.A., New Delhi 1963 to 1975 - Annual National Exhibitions, L.K.A., New Delhi 1966 - Flowers and Flowering Trees, AIFACS, New Delhi 1967 - Seven Artists, Kumar Gallery, New Delhi 1968, 1969, 1992 - Sahitya Kala Parishad, Delhi 1970 - Art Today by Kunika Chemould, New Delhi 1972 - Avant-Garde Indian Paintings, Kumar Gallery, New Delhi 1972 - Inaugural Group Show, Chanakya Gallery, Akbar Hotel, New Delhi 1973 - Twenty Five Years of Indian Art, New Delhi 1973 - International Playgroup's Annual Exhibition, IBM, New York, USA 1977 - AIFACS, Golden Jubilee International Exhibition, New Delhi 1980 - Miniature Format Paintings, L.K.A., New Delhi 1983 - Second Asian Art Biennale, Bangladesh 1983 - 84 - 'Tantra' Exhibition, India Festival West German Museums

1984 - 15th International Exhibition, Japan. 1985 - 'Neo - Tantra' Art Exhibition, New South Wales, Australia 1987 - Indian Art Exhibition for International Book Fair, Frankfurt, Germany 1987 - Indian Festival, Moscow, USSR 1988 - Exhibition of CRY, Metro Cities of India 1989 - Art Teachers Exhibition, HABIART, New Delhi 1990 - 50 Artists by Gallery Chanakya at L.K.A., New Delhi 1990 - Ambassador's Choice at NGMA, New Delhi 1991 - Changing Images, Jahangir Art Gallery, Mumbai 1991 - Award Winner's National Exhibition of Art, L.K.A., New Delhi 1991 - Connoisseur's Choice at Habiart, New Delhi 1994 - Spiritual and Cultural Exchange Exhibition, AIFACS, New Delhi. 1995 - A Homage to Gandhi, LTG Gallery, New Delhi 1997 - Magnetic Forms at Art Konsult, New Delhi 1998 - Symbolism and Geometry in Indian Art, NGMA, New Delhi 2005 - Christies Auction, New York, U.S.A 2006 - Triveda Auction, New Delhi

2006 - Harmony Show, Mumbai 2006 - Pioneer Gallery, New Delhi 2006 - Suruchi Art Gallery, New Delhi 2006 - Colours - Artland, Mumbai 2007- Bonhams Auction, London 2007- Red Earth, Monsoon Show, New Delhi 2007- Osians Auction, New Delhi 2007- 60th Milestone, New Delhi 2007- Rainbow In the Sun, L.K.A, New Delhi 2007- Tales of Textures, Art Elements Gallery, New Delhi 2007- Art for Prabhat, New Delhi 2007 - Convergence, Trident Hilton, Gurgaon 2007- D.M.G 70th Anniversary Show L.K.A, New Delhi 2008- Art for Aged, Auction, Oberoi Hotel, New Delhi 2010 - Haryana Art Academy, L.K.A. New Delhi 2014 - India Art Fair, New Delhi 2015 - Spiritual Art Exhibition of Museum of Sacred Art, Belgium at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi 2016 - Spiritual Art by MOSA at Lalit Kala Academi, New Delhi