Akbar Padamsee

Akbar Padamsee (1928- 2020) was born in a traditional Khoja Muslim family hailing from the Kutch region of Gujarat. From a very young age, he had commenced copying images from The Illustrated Weekly of India magazine. He met his first mentor, his teacher Shirsat, a watercolour exponent while studying at St. Xavier’s High School. This was followed by classes on nudes to prepare for his training degree at the Sir J.J. School of Art. Lively, and innovative in nature, he was the youngest member of the Progressive Artists’ Group.

In 1951, Padamsee left for Paris and was introduced to Stanley Hayter by Krishna Reddy, who became his inspiration for his practice. In addition, to his fortunate opportunity, he soon joined his studio, "Atelier 17". Anonymously conducting his debut exhibition in 1952, he had shared the prize awarded by the French magazine Journal d'Arte with painter Jean Carzou. Later his first solo in India was held at Jehangir Art Gallery in 1954. 

Padamsee was a recipient of the Lalit Kala Akademi Fellowship in 1962, a fellowship by the Rockefeller Foundation in 1965, Kalidas Samman and the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honour in 2010.

Introspective in nature, his "Metascapes" or his "Mirror Images" were explorative abstractions in search of rationality. His artworks included landscapes, nudes, heads made in a variety of mediums such as pencils, watercolours, acrylic, oil paints and charcoal. Padamsee never agreed to the reference of the term ‘modernist’ for himself, which denoted his liberal thinking process and immediate acceptance of transitory time.

Revered as a “thinker’s artist” Padamsee breathed his last at the ripe age of 91 leaving behind a voluminous legacy of his sensational, and intriguing practice. Akbar Padamsee’s indulgence in spirituality, science and especially geometry provided viewers with a balanced rendition, enough to grab the attention of aesthetic as well as technical psyches!