Postmodern artist Sunil Das passes away at 76

"To express my authentic feelings about reality, I have to interpret it, I have conceptualise it. The previous reality gets transformed in the laboratory of minds. Then, I bring it out on the canvas."

This statement by the post modern artist Sunil Das best describes his work. Unfortunately, Das passed away on Monday at the age of 76.

Coming from a middle class family in Kolkatta, Das, stepped away from joining his family business by joining a local art school. His rise to fame was purely based on his talent, and his work never showed signs of influence from older artists. However, he had one thing in common with the renowned MF Hussain, and that was his love for horses.

Bull was another animal that Das was caught up with, especially post his trip to Spain.

Das's paintings are known to have a structure that reminds one of sculptures and graphic art. What makes his work stand out from the rest is the way he portrays the associative world in addition to the main subject. For instance, his portraits of women convey the various pressures a woman has to face in the big bad world.

"I delve a lot on man's inhumanity to man," he used to say. His paintings did not boast bright colours but brought out the drama of life in soft brown, mauve and white.

Awards and Honours

• Sunil Das is the only Indian to have won the Shiromani Kala Puraskar while pursuing his under-graduation from the Government College of Art and Craft, Kolkatta.
• He is the founder member of Society of Contemporary Artists.
• Das conducted around 88 solo exhibitions across the world including the Paris Biennale.
• In 2014, he was conferred with the Padma Shri Award by the Government of India.