Nirode Mazumdar

Nirode Mazumdar (11 May 1916 – 26 September 1982) was an Indian painter from the first generation of Indian modernists, and a key member of the Calcutta Group.
Early Life.
Nirode Majumdar was born to Prafullakumar Mazumdar and Renukamoyee Mazumdar on 11th May,1916 at Calcutta. Prafullachandra used to serve in the police department. Renukamoyee had keen literary interest and thus Nirode Mazumdar was exposed to literary activities and trends from his childhood.
His parents were originally from Taki, a town in the 24 Parganas district (now in North 24 Parganas district), but the family shifted to Rikhia. Nirode spent his childhood and adolescence in Kolkata, India with his elder brother. He at his age of six years, started his studies in a school called "Bishnupur Shiksha Sangha" in Bishnupur with his elder brother Kamalkumar but dropped formal studies before completing high school. For sometime, he studied Sanskrit in a Tol at Kalighat.
Nirode Mazumdar was the younger brother of renowned Bengali novelist Kamal Kumar Majumdar, their younger sister Shanu Lahiri (1928-2013) was also a noted painter and art educator.
Career.
Nirode Mazumdar had his first education under Kshitindranath Majumdar, student of Abanindranath Tagore, at the Indian Society of Oriental Art in Calcutta. After he finished his course Mazumdar was awarded the Norman Blount Memorial Award for his artistic skill.
Along with the new generation of modernists such as Pradosh Das Gupta, Rathin Moitra, and Paritosh Sen, Nirode Mazumdar founded the Calcutta Group in 1943. His first solo show in Calcutta was organised by the Calcutta Group in 1944. On a French government scholarship, he studied engraving in Paris at the academy of the French artist Andre Lhote. In 1951, he participated in a group show held at the India House in London, and worked for sometime as the curator of the art gallery there. In 1955, Nirode returned to Paris. He had a solo show at the Gallerie Barbizon in Paris in 1957. He lived in Europe for ten years, befriending many writers and artists such as Constantin Brâncuși, Georges Braque, and Jean Genet.
Nirode Mazumdar returned to Calcutta in 1958. He painted large canvasses, gradually moving towards Tantric themes in his work, and often exploring a single concept over a series of paintings. His work remained rooted in the pictorial tradition of Bengal, which he harmonized with European modernism.
He presently has some painting showed in Paris, Villa Vassillieff, in a temporary and free exhibition, until 23 December 2017.