Jatin Das – Leading contemporary artist, painter, sculptor and muralist

Jatin Das is one of the leading contemporary artists of India in the present times. Apart from a gifted painter, he is also known as a sculptor and muralist. He is a recipient of numerous honours including the prestigious civilian honour Padma Bhushan in 2012 for his contributions towards Indian art. Famous film actress and award winning female director Nandita Das is his daughter. Apart from different major cities of the country, he has exhibited his art pieces in many countries including USA, UK, Germany, Finland, UAE, Greece etc since early 1960s.

An alumni of Sir J J School of Art, Mumbai.

Jatin Das was born in 1941 in Baripada, Mayurbhanj in Orissa. He completed his studies from Sir J J School of Art, Mumbai in 1962, and since then started exhibitions in different parts of the country. After exhibiting his works in his art school in 1962, same year he exhibited his works at Finland, Helsinki, Sturenkarto. It was his first international exhibition. Since then he has been regular in his works and conducted exhibitions across the globe. His exhibitions titled – Biennales in Paris (1971) and in Venice (1978) and the Documenta in Kessel (1975) were widely praised.

He was first married to Varsha Das, and Nandita Das is their daughter. Later he married Bidisha Roy Das. When #MeToo movement brought great ripples to Indian film industry, Das too was accused for sexual harassment by two women. But Nandita supported her father. Jatin denied the allegations slamming them as “vulgar”, and that he is shocked.

Jatin Das – Some interesting and less-known facts

Jatin Das with his daughter Nandita Das

1. Best known as an artist, he is a writer too. He published two books – The Art of Jatin Das (2003) and Poems by Jatin Das (1972).

2. He was honoured with Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity Italian Government in New Delhi in 2007.

3. He was given an honorary doctorate by Utkal University of Culture, Bhubaneswar in 2007.

4. He has conducted over a 100 exhibitions since 1962.

5. He loves drawing, sculpturing and he is also a curator who owns a personal collection of traditional arts and crafts which he collected for many years.

6. He faced allegations of sexual assault thrice, as a part of #MeToo movement. But the artist denied all of them.