DemetriaMunro at 09:05, 29 March 2026

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{{Short description|Indian artist (1907–1996)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Gobardhan Ash
| image = File:Gobardhan Ash.jpg
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1907|08|05}}
| birth_place = [[Begampur]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1996|12|22|1907|08|05}}
| occupation = [[Painter]]
| movement = {{unbulleted list |[[Young Artists' Student Union]]|[[Art Rebel Center]]|[[Calcutta Group]]}}
}}
[[File:Atul Bose Gobardhan Ash Jamini Roy Percy Brown Atul Bose.jpg|thumb|Standing third row second from right – Gobardhan Ash. Seated middle row from right second [[Percy Brown (art historian)|Percy Brown]] and third [[Jamini Roy]]. Front row from right fourth [[Atul Bose]] at the [[Government College of Art & Craft]] 1929]]
[[File:First Exhibition of the Academy of Fine Arts in 1933.jpg|thumb|Standing from left: Abani Sen, Gobardhan Ash, Bimal Dey, Jahar Sen, Ardhendu Chatterjee, Haridhan Dutta.Sitting from left: S.N. Dey, [[Atul Bose]], Amiya Basu at [[Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata]] First Annual Exhibition, Kolkata -1933]]

'''Gobardhan Ash''' (5 August 1907 – 22 December 1996) was an Indian artist and an early modernist as per the art critic Sovom Som.<ref>{{cite book |title=Art Heritage Season 1983 - 84 |date=1984 |publisher=Art Heritage |location=New Delhi |page=24}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Sovon |first1=Som |title=Art Critic |url=https://www.amazon.in/Books-Sovon-Som/s?rh=n%3A976389031%2Cp_27%3ASovon+Som |website=Amazon}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=A Mumbai NFT auction looks back at Gobardhan Ash's prolific oeuvre |date=13 January 2022 |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.in/story/a-mumbai-nft-auction-looks-back-at-gobardhan-ashs-prolific-oeuvre/ |publisher=Architectural Digest}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The power of ideas in art |url=https://www.forbesindia.com/article/live/the-power-of-ideas-in-art/41175/1 |work=Forbes}}</ref> [[Ebrahim Alkazi]]<ref>{{cite book |title=Art Heritage Season 1983 - 84 |date=1984 |publisher=Art Heritage |location=New Delhi |page=3}}</ref> states that "''Gobardhan wielded considerable influence as an artist in the 1940s''". He co-founded the Art Rebel Center in 1933 and was a member of the [[Calcutta Group]]. He was mentored by and close to the artist [[Atul Bose]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gobardhan |first1=Ash |title=Artist |url=https://www.sahapedia.org/the-life-and-work-of-artist-abani-sen-0}}</ref> Gobardhan was employed as the Chief Artist at the Indian Institute of Arts and Industry in Kolkata in 1946 for a period of two years and subsequently employed from 1953 as a Senior Teacher at the Indian Art School of Kolkata.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gobardhan Ash Employment |url=https://www.astaguru.com/artists/Gobardhan-Ash-3437}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Indian Art School Prospectus, 1955 |url=https://static.prinseps.com/catalogue/archivalcatalogues/the-indian-art-school-1955-56.pdf}}</ref> [[Ranjit Hoskote]] specifically identifies Gobardhan's 1948 - 1951 period wherein Gobardhan "''focusses on creating a style similar to various idioms within [[pattachitra]] into a consciousness that is clearly aware of cinema and animation''".<ref>{{cite web |title=Ranjit Hoskote on Gobardhan Ash | website=[[Facebook]] |url=https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=930344844537177}}</ref>

== Education ==
Gobardhan Ash had initially joined the [[Government College of Art & Craft|Government College of Art, Kolkata]] as a student in 1926.<ref>{{cite web |title=AstaGuru - Gobardhan Ash Profile |url=https://www.astaguru.com/artists/Gobardhan-Ash-3437}}</ref> He lost his scholarship at the school due to his involvement with the [[Salt March|civil disobedience movement in 1930]]'s.<ref>{{cite news |title=A lifetime on canvas |publisher=Economic Times |date=28 August 1993}}</ref> Differences with the teaching methods and an open skirmish with the then principal [[Mukul Dey]] ultimately led to the formation of a group called the Young Artist's Student Union in 1931<ref>{{cite web |title=Young Artists Student Union |date=30 November 2021 |url=https://prinseps.com/research/the-history-behind-the-young-artists-union-1931-by-gobardhan-ash/}}</ref> and the [[Art Rebel Center]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gobardhan |first1=Ash |title=Rebel Artists Center |url=https://static.prinseps.com/catalogue/archivalcatalogues/art-rebel-centre-exhibition-1933.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Trouilloud |first1=Julia |title=The Reception of Modern European Art in Calcutta: a Complex Negotiation (1910s-1940s) |journal=Academia.edu |date=2017 |volume=Artl@s Bulletin 6, no. 2 (2017): Article 7. |page=106 |url=https://www.academia.edu/64089172}}</ref> He subsequently studied under [[D. P. Roy Choudhury|Devi Prasad Roy Chowdhury]] at the Government Art School in Madras.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nag |first=Ashoke |year=2012 |title=Kolkata art gallery, Aakriti, celebrates famed Bengal artist Gobardhan Ash's 105th anniversary |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/kolkata-art-gallery-aakriti-celebrates-famed-bengal-artist-gobardhan-ashs-105th-anniversary/articleshow/15275301.cms?from=mdr |access-date= |website=[[The Economic Times|Economic Times]] |publication-date=30 July 2012}}</ref>

== Lifetime achievement awards ==

* Award From the [[Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata]], 1937<ref>{{cite web |title=Award From the Academy of Fine Arts |url=https://www.saffronart.com/artists/gobardhan--ash}}</ref>
* Abanindranath Puraskar for lifetime service and excellence in the field of art practice ([[Abanindranath Tagore]] award), 1984<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ash |first1=Gobardhan |title=Abanindra Puraskar for Gobardhan Ash |url=https://dagworld.com/gobardhanash.html |website=Delhi Art Gallery |publisher=DAG}}</ref>
* [[All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society]] Honors Gobardhan Ash for his contribution to Art, 1988<ref>{{cite web |title=SaffronArt - Gobardhan Ash Awards |url=https://www.saffronart.com/artists/gobardhan--ash}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=AIFACS AWARD 1988 |url=https://www.gallerykolkata.com/seller-name/gobardhan-ash/}}</ref>
* Art Heritage Award, 1985<ref>{{cite web |title=Award from Art Heritage |url=https://www.aakritiartgallery.com/artist/profile/gobardhan.html}}</ref>
<gallery>
File:Abanindranath Puraskar.jpg|Abanindra Puraskar
File:Aifacs award.jpg|AIFACS Award
File:Akademi Award.jpg|Akademi Award
</gallery>

== Exhibitions ==
* February 1930 - [[University of Calcutta|Calcutta University]] Institute, First Annual Exhibition<ref>{{Cite web |last=Calcutta University |title=Calcutta University Institute Art Exhibition |url=https://static.prinseps.com/catalogue/archivalcatalogues/1-exhibit-academy-of-fine-arts-1933.pdf}}</ref>
* April 1933 - Art Rebel Centre Exhibition<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gobardhan |first1=Ash |title=Art Rebel Center |url=https://static.prinseps.com/catalogue/archivalcatalogues/art-rebel-centre-exhibition-1933.pdf}}</ref>
* December 1933 - January 1934, First Exhibition of the [[Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata]]<ref>{{cite web |title=First Exhibition of the Academy of Fine Arts |url=https://static.prinseps.com/catalogue/archivalcatalogues/1-exhibit-academy-of-fine-arts-1933.pdf}}</ref>
* December 1934 - January 1935, Second Annual Exhibition of the [[Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Second Annual Exhibition of the Academy of Fine Arts |url=https://static.prinseps.com/catalogue/archivalcatalogues/2-exhibit-academy-of-fine-arts-1934.pdf}}</ref>
* December 1936 - January 1937, Fourth Annual Exhibition of the [[Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Fourth Annual Exhibition of the Academy of Fine Arts |url=https://static.prinseps.com/catalogue/archivalcatalogues/academy-of-fine-arts-exhibition-1937.pdf}}</ref>
* December 1940, Exhibition of the Society of Modern Arts<ref>{{Cite web |title=Society of Modern Art Exhibition |url=https://static.prinseps.com/catalogue/archivalcatalogues/society-of-modern-art-exhibition-1940.pdf}}</ref>
* December 1946, Twenty-Third Annual Exhibition by the Students and ex-Students of the [[Government College of Art & Craft]], Kolkata<ref>{{Cite web |title=Twenty Third Annual Exhibition by the Students and ex-Students of the Government College of Art |url=https://static.prinseps.com/catalogue/archivalcatalogues/23-annual-art-exhibition.pdf}}</ref>
* January 1948, Indian Exhibition in Singapore<ref>{{cite web |title=Catalogue of Indian Exhibition in Singapore |url=https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/static.prinseps.com/catalogue/archivalcatalogues/indian-exhibition-singapore-1948.pdf}}</ref>
* April 1950, Exhibition of Paintings & Sculptures by the members of the Calcutta Group and the [[Bombay Progressive Artists' Group]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Exhibition of the Calcutta Group and the Bombay Progressives |url=https://aaa.org.hk/en/collections/search/archive/geeta-kapur-and-vivan-sundaram-archive-exhibition-catalogues-from-geeta-and-vivans-collection/object/progressive-artists-group-exhibition-of-paintings}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ash, Gobardhan}}
[[Category:Artists from Kolkata]]
[[Category:1907 births]]
[[Category:1996 deaths]]

Gobardhan Ash - Revision history

DemetriaMunro at 09:05, 29 March 2026