Born 1959, Sreerampore, West Bengal | Lives and works in Kolkata

Pradip Maitra is a senior contemporary Indian painter known for his sensitive and poetic approach to figuration, with a particular mastery in watercolour and mixed media. With a career spanning four decades, Maitra’s work reveals an introspective visual language that draws upon both classical Indian aesthetics and modernist tendencies, weaving memory, mythology, and the human condition into quiet yet resonant compositions.

A graduate of the Indian College of Art and Draftsmanship (Kolkata), Maitra earned his diploma with First Class distinction and went on to complete his graduation from Calcutta University. He held his first solo exhibition in 1983, sponsored by Bata India Ltd., and has since had numerous solo exhibitions at prestigious venues such as Jehangir Art Gallery (Mumbai), Birla Academy of Art & Culture (Kolkata), Dhoomimal Art Centre (New Delhi), and Nehru Centre (Mumbai). His landmark show Chariot of Civilisation (2007) was sponsored by the Birla Academy.

Maitra has participated in significant group exhibitions across India and abroad, including at the National Gallery of Modern Art (New Delhi), Lalit Kala Akademi, Birla Academy, Gallery 88, and Jehangir Art Gallery. He was part of major thematic exhibitions such as Young Faces in Contemporary Art, Best of Bengal, Manifestation I & II (Delhi Art Gallery), and international shows in Dubai, Bangkok, and Hong Kong. His works have also been featured in important auctions including Sotheby’s (London), Bonhams, and Osian’s.

He has participated in several national art camps and workshops including those organized by Lalit Kala Akademi, Genesis Art Gallery, Mayo College (Ajmer), and the Bengal Foundation (Bangladesh), and has been invited to speak or demonstrate at institutions such as Shiv Nadar School, Noida.

Pradip Maitra’s paintings are part of many prominent public and private collections in India and abroad—including the National Gallery of Modern Art (New Delhi), Chitrakala Parishad (Bangalore), L.V. Prasad Eye Hospital (Hyderabad), Governor House (Odisha), Reliance Industries, RPG Enterprises, and international collections in Germany, the USA, and France.

A long-standing member of the Society of Contemporary Artists (Kolkata), Maitra continues to evolve a uniquely personal yet universal painterly vocabulary that remains rooted in Indian traditions while engaging with the anxieties and aspirations of the present.