'Celebrating Ambadas': On His 100th Birth Anniversary, An Opportunity To Explore Indian Modern Art

Ambadas Khobragade was celebrated as one of India’s greatest master abstractionists, known for his Indian modern art. The exhibition presents an opportunity to view a large body of his works.

As a tribute to the 100th birth anniversary of great master of Modern India art Ambadas Khobragade, Ushaarth Art Foundation and India International Centre in association with Dhoomimal Gallery and Prayag Shukla will hold an exhibition titled ‘Celebrating Ambadas’. The exhibition will be held at the Art Gallery in Kamaladevi Complex at India International Centre in Delhi.

The inauguration ceremony will be held at 6 PM on June 16 with Royal Norwegian Embassy's Maritne A Bottheim as the guest of honour and followed by a music recital. The exhibition will then be open to the public from June 17 to June 27, 2023. The timings are from 11 AM to 7 PM.

On the first day, art critic, poet and writer Prayag Shukla, a close friend of Ambadas Khobragade, will interact with visitors and share his memories and views on Ambadas.

On subsequent days, there will be a poetry reading by Gagan Gill as well as talks on Ambadas and his relationship with J Swaminathan by Ashok Vajpeyi and Shridhar Iyer.

There will also be a film screening of ‘The Way I See – Celebrating Ambadas’, by Dr Shruti Lakhanpal Tandon, on 22nd June at the Deshmukh Auditorium at IIC. There will be several curated walks including one for students with hearing impairment and MFA students from College of Art, Delhi.

The show will include paintings and drawings spanning seven decades of Ambadas’s practice, from the collection of Dhoomimal Gallery as well as works from several private collections. Also on display will be personal letters, photographs, old catalogues and writings related to Ambadas and his work.

Ambadas Khobragade was born in Telegaon, Maharashtra, on July 1, 1922. He received his Diploma in Art from the Sir J J School of Art in 1952 where artists Akbar Padamsee, Tyeb Mehta and Mohan Samant were his classmates. One of the founding members of Group 1890, he received the Bombay Art Society Gold Medal in 1962 and the Lalit Kala Academy National Award in 1963.

Celebrated as one of India’s greatest master abstractionists, Ambadas migrated to Norway in 1972, after his marriage to Norwegian Hege Backe, and continued to exhibit widely in Europe and in India. This exhibition of his paintings and drawings is an opportunity to view a large body of his works.