EDUCATION
Self-taught artist with no academic training in art.
1942 Completed Graduation, Calcutta. Grandfather, Nagendra
Bose inspired him to start painting. Initially learnt
drawing and painting at Belgachia Pannalalshil Vidyamandir,
presently called Manohar Academy, Calcutta. Learnt the
technique of oil painting from artist Debi Prasad Roychowdhury.
EXHIBITIONS
1955 First solo exhb., Artistry House, Calcutta. 1964
Group exhb., Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta. Group exhb.,
Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi. 1994 Solo exhb., Birla
Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta. Exhb., Sophia,
Hungary. 2004 Manifestations II, organised by Delhi
Art Gallery, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai and Delhi
Art Gallery, New Delhi.
COLLECTION
Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata. Ramkrishna Mission Institute
of Culture, Kolkata. National Gallery of Modern Art,
New Delhi. Private collections, Germany and India.
STYLE
For inspiration and evolving a personal style, Dipen
looked at any part of the history of art that seemed
useful- Jain and Kangra painting, to Far Eastern art
and even to Impressionism. This eclectic method finally
resulted in a style akin to the Bengal School. During
the mid 1940s, when Euro-centric concepts of Modernism
were gaining momentum in India, Dipen as a loner ventured
into a rather forgotten zone- the world of Indian mythology.
During the early years of the twentieth century, the
nationalistic movements demanded History Painting to
conjure up a romantic vision of the past. During the
hey day of colonialism, the need was more emotional
than real. With time, the trend of History Painting
waned. It was exactly at that time when Zainul Abedin,
Chittaprosad, Rathin Maitra, Prodosh Dasgupta were drawing
on the reality of human sufferings around them that
Dipen quietly stood apart and painted from imagination,
while Zainul painted from life. Dipens exploitation
of mythology referre
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