Jogen Chowdhury succumbed to complications from myeloproliferative neoplasm at Ruby General Hospital in Kolkata where he had been admitted on October 16 and placed on ventilator support the day before his death, hospital officials said. Gallerist Somak Mitra of Art Exposure confirmed the passing to media outlets following the artist’s prolonged illness. West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari described Chowdhury as a towering pillar of the cultural world whose works brought international acclaim to the state, while fellow artist Samir Aich called the loss both personal and emblematic of a closing chapter in Bengal School influences.
Born in 1939 in Faridpur, now part of Bangladesh, Chowdhury grew up as a Partition refugee whose family experiences of displacement infused his later depictions of the human form with themes of vulnerability and unrest, according to an obituary in Open Magazine. His childhood in a creative household included his father’s drawings of mythological subjects and his mother’s practice of alpana floor designs, alongside village festivals where artisans crafted idols and theatrical performances unfolded. These early encounters shaped the visual vocabulary that would define his six-decade career as one of modern India’s most recognisable artistic voices.
After completing studies at the Government College of Art and Craft in Kolkata, Chowdhury trained at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris during the mid-1960s before returning to India and taking on roles as a textile designer with the Handloom Board in both Calcutta and Madras. He later served as keeper of the art collection at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi until 1987 and then joined the faculty of Kala Bhavan at Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan, where he continued as professor emeritus. A tribute titled “Jogen Chowdhury (1939-2026): Hues of a Humanist” in Open Magazine traced how these positions allowed him to build networks across the Indian art ecosystem while maintaining a rigorous daily studio practice.
Chowdhury developed a signature style of fluid yet unbroken lines combined with dense cross-hatching that rendered human figures as swollen, bent and psychologically charged, often conveying anxiety, desire and the weight of lived experience. His works, executed primarily in ink, pastel, watercolour and oil, drew from both traditional Indian iconography and modernist sensibilities to explore the complexities of power, intimacy and frailty. Pieces such as “Life II,” “The Wound” and “Mona Lisa in My Dream” have entered major public and private collections worldwide, establishing him as a pivotal figure in post-independence Indian art.
Beyond painting, Chowdhury co-founded Gallery 26 and the Artists’ Forum in New Delhi in 1975, mentored emerging talents by purchasing their works, and inaugurated the Jogen Chowdhury Centre for Arts in Kolkata in 2019 as a multi-storey space housing his oeuvre alongside a library and exhibition areas. He also served as a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha from 2014 to 2020, bringing an artist’s perspective to parliamentary proceedings on cultural matters. These efforts reinforced his role not only as a creator but as an institution builder committed to sustaining the ecosystem that nurtured him.
The artist received the Banga Bibhushan, West Bengal’s highest civilian honour, in 2012, along with the Kalidas Samman from the Madhya Pradesh government and recognition at the Havana Biennale in Cuba, among other awards. A 2019 profile in Open Magazine noted how his time in Parliament included sketching fellow lawmakers, maintaining the observational acuity that defined his studio output. His death at 87 closes a career that bridged the traumas of Partition with contemporary reflections on the human condition, leaving a body of work that continues to influence younger generations of painters across the subcontinent.
