Paritosh Sen (1918 - 2008)
Born in Dhaka, (now Bangladesh) in 1918 Paritosh Sen got Dip. in Fine Arts from the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Chennai in 1940. In 1942, he moved to Calcutta. In 1949, he left for Paris to study further, attending, among other institutes, the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He received a Fellowship for 1970-'71 from the John D. Rockefeller III Fund.
A painter, illustrator, tutor and writer, Paritosh Sen has been a part of the world of Indian art, for close to four decades now. Sen's more recognizable works are his caricatures, which reflect strong underlying socio-political shades, and his female nude drawings. His style of representation is influenced by his exposure to Western Modern art and has traces of cubism. He uses two dimensional, structured planes but still creates an illusion of voluptuousness. His drawings and paintings are noted for their strong lines and bold, stylized strokes. Although the colour is an important aspect of his paintings, it is the human figure, expressing a myriad of emotions that dominates his art. A recurrent subject in Sen's works is his depiction of scenes from everyday urban life. These activities are rendered from a cynical and detached perspective, which is typically Sen's viewpoint.
Paritosh Sen passed away in October 2008.
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