Mohan Samant

"I was able to develop the linear relief and hieroglyphic aspects of Egyptian art and the rough texture of the Lascaux caves into a contemporary synthesis, while retaining the colours of Indian miniature paintings."
Mohan Samant

Having studied under Shankar Palsikar at the Sir J.J. School of Art he joined the second flush of the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group and exhibited extensively throughout the late 1950s and '60s. Shortly after exhibiting at the Venice Biennale in 1958, he spent a year in Rome on a government scholarship, before being awarded a Rockefeller fellowship, which took him to New York from 1959–64. During this time, he started exhibiting internationally and with World House Galleries in New York. This painting was given to friends of his in 1964, shortly before his return to India. He would later relocate to New York permanently.

Samant was fascinated by ancient art, especially that of Egypt, and took further inspiration from Mughal miniatures, Jain manuscript paintings, and tribal and folk symbolism. In his paintings, he fused Hindu mythology with these external influences. Samant’s relief-like impasto and deeply textured works recall the rough surfaces of rocks and caves.