Rameshwar Broota

R Broota is one of the talented painters of modern India. He was born in 1941 in New Delhi. He graduated from the college of art in 1964. Broota has been teaching and inspiring many students and art lovers as the head of the department of art, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi. From the very beginning of Broota’s career, he has been passionately involved in the human situation that degrades individuals. As a young painter Broota's anger at the sufferings of the poor and the anguish at the voracity and corruption that he saw in society was eminently expressed in his early works which are a sardonic and bitter comment on the social society. Slowly Broota's creativity gave a new direction to aesthetics in contemporary Indian Art. His canvasses are usually large but on close observation, they are enormously obscure monumental drawings. Broota’s present works has had an abstract bent with symbols communicating the cadence of time, of man, and of existence.

Broota’s solo exhibitions were held in 1984 and 1990 at Calcutta and also at Mumbai in 1997. By choice, Broota never had a solo showing of his paintings in Delhi though. In 1980, 1981 and 1984, the painter has won three National Awards of the Lalit Kala Academy. He has also won the AIFACS Awards in 1973 and 1975 and the Hyderabad Art Society Award for Graphics in 1976. He received the Senior Fellowship of the Government of India for the years 1987 and 1988. In 1988, he was bestowed the L. N. Gupta Memorial Award and the Title Award 'Kala Vibhushan' by AIFACS in 1997. Broota has also made some experimental video films which were highly acclaimed too.

Broota mostly paints in the monochrome technique. His canvas surface is usually painted in matte black. He works with a sharp and thin blade so as to bring in light and forms. This exposes the white surface below giving it a lovely effect and creating deep spatial dimensions His highly fine paintings have the quality of a graphic print.

His paintings have been shown in many solo and prestigious group shows. Some of them include the 'Pictorial Space' which was held at New Delhi' in 1977. He achieved world wide recognition with his exhibition at the Museum of Modem Art, Oxford in 1982 with the theme being India: Myth and Reality. Apart from that, his work was also exhibited at the Hirsch horn Museum in Washington D.C in 1982 u7nder the title ‘Modern Indian Painting'. Other famous exhibitions were his work was included are the ‘Biennales’ in Tokyo and Dhaka, 'Art for Man', Saddam Centre for International Art, Baghdad in 1986 and International Art Fair in 1976. Broota basically lives and works in New Delhi.
Broota is not only a good painter but a great teacher too. Broota has been giving guidance and inspiring many artists of the younger generation.