Introduction
Eschewing his Brahmin surname that was indicative of his upper caste background, Chittaprosad was radicalized in the 1930s during his student days. Producing sharp satirical critiques of both feudal and colonial systems, the young autodidact was an active member of the Communist Party of India—though he later got disenchanted with it. Inspired by village sculptors, artisans and puppeteers, Chittaprosad rejected the classicism and spiritual preoccupations of the Bengal school as well as western academic style easel painting. Resorting to cheap and versatile mediums such as drawing in pen and ink, sketching, and linocuts, he produced stark, provocative renderings of the human condition, especially during the Bengal Famine of 1943–44. The drawings and reports were published in People’s War, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party and later culminated in a series called Hungry Bengal. An artist imbued with reformist concerns and aware of the needs of his time, Chittaprosad is heralded for his raw honesty and social consciousness as a creative mind.
- Zodiac sign
- Gemini
- Age
- 63
- Place of Birth
- Naihati, West Bengal, India
- Place of Death
- Calcutta
- State Country of Birth
- West Bengal, India
- Had no formal training in art. The village sculptures and puppet players inspired him to become an artist.
1932
- Chittagong Government College, Chittagong, India (present-day Bangladesh)
1965
- Learned the techniques of Czech puppetry by Frantisek Salaba (a puppeteer who was living in Bombay at the time)
1934
- Participated in the National Movement by making posters, drawings and cartoons
1934 – 1939
1940
- Member of the Communist Party of India, Published Hungry Bengal, a pamphlet documenting his experiences of the Bengal famine of 1943, most copies of which were burned by the British Raj before they could leave the press. A few were salvaged. His drawings of the Bengal Famine were published in Communist party journals People's War and Janayudha.
1940 – 1948
1946
- He worked for the Left Press, Mumbai. He did works depicting the Telangana Peasants armed struggle against the Nizam's tyrannical regime in Hyderabad
1949
- Responded to the call of the World Peace Movement by contributing his art to the cause of World Peace
1950
- Founded his own puppet-theatre, Khela Ghar, in collaboration with and towards rejuvenating traditional Indian puppeteers
1952
- Made a series of Lino-cuts titled Angels Without Fairy Tales depicting Indian children as sufferers of poverty, disease and oppression
1969
- The Danish U.N.I.C.E.F. Committee published the collection of his Lino-cuts Angels Without Fairy Tales dedicated to the International Conference in Defence of Children
- Donated his series of paintings titled Neglected Childhood, to the Danish United Nations Children's Fund Committee
1971
- Was involved in writing stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata for children, in verse form with illustrations done by himself
- Illustrated Indian Fables and Fairy Tales and With Puppets to Calcutta by the Czech writer, Norbert Fryd
Calendar 9
- ArchivedOpening PreviewProject 82SWARAJ - Revisualising India's Political HistoryAn Exhibition of Modern & Contemporary Fine & Popular Arts, Photography, Film Memorabilia and Visual-Textual-Audio Archive12th August 20266:00 PM - 9:00 PMVisual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi,The Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (T.R.I.S.) announces its seventh exhibition. “Swaraj – Revisualising India's Political History” -- An exhibition of Modern and Contemporary Fine and Popular Arts, Photography, Film Memorabilia and Visual-Textual-Audio Archives. Swaraj will open at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 August 2026 at the Visual Arts Gallery and will remain open till 7 p.m. Sunday, 16 August 2026. Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (T.R.I.S.) presents SWARAJ | Revisualising India's Political History, a pioneering inter-disciplinary offline-online exhibition conceptualised and curated by Neville Tuli with Team T.R.I.S.. SWARAJ explores India's journey towards political self-rule and self-discovery through a remarkable collection of rare modern and contemporary fine and popular arts, albums, photographs, books, prints, propaganda, cartoons, film publicity artworks and other "text-visual-audio" archives contextualised within a clear historical framework, which defines T.R.I.S.' pedagogic approach to learning. The Exhibition will be of particular interest to students and scholars of India & Cultural Studies, and India's political and modern histories as well as those interested in the passage of events and ideas from the mid-1850s leading up to the turn of the 21st century. Unique to the Tuli Research Centre for India Studies is the richness of visual material that not only exhorts a deeper understanding of the art and archival materials on display but also brings alive the multi-layered narratives of the exhibition and naturally India's journey in being ad searching for herself.Read More →
- ArchivedExhibitionProject 81SWARAJ - Revisualising India's Political HistoryAn Exhibition of Modern & Contemporary Fine & Popular Arts, Photography, Film Memorabilia and Visual-Textual-Audio Archive12th - 19th August 202610:00 AM - 7:00 PMVisual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi,19The Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (T.R.I.S.) announces its seventh exhibition. “Swaraj – Revisualising India's Political History” -- An exhibition of Modern and Contemporary Fine and Popular Arts, Photography, Film Memorabilia and Visual-Textual-Audio Archives. Swaraj will open at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 August 2026 at the Visual Arts Gallery and will remain open till 7 p.m. Sunday, 16 August 2026. Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (T.R.I.S.) presents SWARAJ | Revisualising India's Political History, a pioneering inter-disciplinary offline-online exhibition conceptualised and curated by Neville Tuli with Team T.R.I.S.. SWARAJ explores India's journey towards political self-rule and self-discovery through a remarkable collection of rare modern and contemporary fine and popular arts, albums, photographs, books, prints, propaganda, cartoons, film publicity artworks and other "text-visual-audio" archives contextualised within a clear historical framework, which defines T.R.I.S.' pedagogic approach to learning. The Exhibition will be of particular interest to students and scholars of India & Cultural Studies, and India's political and modern histories as well as those interested in the passage of events and ideas from the mid-1850s leading up to the turn of the 21st century. Unique to the Tuli Research Centre for India Studies is the richness of visual material that not only exhorts a deeper understanding of the art and archival materials on display but also brings alive the multi-layered narratives of the exhibition and naturally India's journey in being ad searching for herself.Read More →
- ArchivedOnline LearningProject 43Public Launch of A-Graphy Pages CHITTAPROSAD8th February 20266:15pmIndia International Centre, 1st Floor Seminar Halls, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay Block, Max Mueller Marg, New Delhi, 110003
- ArchivedExhibition by Invitation Only | for Educational InstitutionsProject 40Vintage Polish Posters previously belonging to ChittaprosadSelections from the Tuli Research Centre for India Studies Collection6th - 7th February 202611:00amThe Well, The Tuli Research Centre for India Studies, 14 Green Avenue, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, 110070
- ArchivedExhibition by Invitation Only | for Educational InstitutionsProject 39The Art of Chittaprosad | Living the IdealismSelections from the Tuli Research Centre for India Studies Collection4th - 5th February 202611:00amThe Well, The Tuli Research Centre for India Studies, 14 Green Avenue, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, 110070
- ArchivedExhibition by Invitation Only | for Educational InstitutionsProject 38Social Responsibility of the Creative MindEight Master Artworks of Modern and Contemporary Indian Art by Altaf | Ramkinkar Baij | Chittaprosad | Somnath Hore | Sudhir Patwardhan | Ramkumar | Krishna Reddy | Vivaan Sundaram2nd - 3rd February 202611:00amThe Well, The Tuli Research Centre for India Studies, 14 Green Avenue, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, 110070
- ArchivedExhibitionProject 8Self Discovery via Rediscovering India Series Part V Mahatma Gandhi25th April 2025as part of the Rediscovering India via Self-Discovery Exhibition Series Part VRead More →
- ArchivedExhibitionProject 5Self Discovery via Rediscovering India Series Part IV Building www.tuliresearchcentre.org20th - 23rd February 2025Self Discovery via Rediscovering India Series Part IVRead More →
- ArchivedExhibitionProject 1Self-Discovery via Rediscovering India Series Inaugural Exhibition14th - 29th March 2024Inaugural ExhibitionRead More →
