Dina Nath Walli

Dina Nath Walli (1908–2006), also known by his pen name Almast Kashmiri, was a renowned water colour artist and poet from Srinagar city in Kashmir valley. He was the part of the modern art movement in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and was known for painting everyday scenes of Kashmir.
He lived in Badyar Bala area of Srinagar, which has been home to many Kashmiri Pandit artists including S.N. Bhat and Mohan Raina.
Early life and education.
His father died when Dina Nath was very young. He had his early education in Srinagar, then he continued his three years course at Amar Singh Technical Institute, Srinagar and then he moved to Calcutta in 1930 for his further training, where he learned various forms of art under the guidance of Percy Brown, principal of the Government College of Art & Craft at the University of Calcutta.
Career.
In 1936, he returned to Srinagar, where he concentrated on landscape painting in water colours mainly. He was also awarded gold medals by the government of Kashmir in 1939 and in 1940 he was awarded a highly commended medal from the Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta.
He was aware of various forms of modern art especially Salvador Dalí's surrealism, Pablo Picasso's Cubism, expressionism, impressionism, Pop art and Abstract art. His paintings are good examples of impressionism, they are unique in their own way. He had also produced an album of 12 paintings.
Under his pen name of Almast Kashmiri, his "accent on realistic art or people's poetry", is best seen in his two collections of his poetry, "Bala Yapair" (This side of Mountains, 1955) and "Sahaavukh Posh" (Desert Flowers, 1981).
Personal life.
He was fond of music and was closely attached to musical instruments, mainly violin, flute, and sitar (Indian string instrument). He was survived by one son and three daughters. After marriage of his children he moved out to Karnal with his son, Dr. T. K. Walli in the 1980s.