Dhiraj Choudhury

Dhiraj Choudhury

 Dhiraj Choudhury was born on 1936 at then Bengal, now Bangladesh. He was a student of Government College, Darjeeling and the Principal Dr. K. D.Ghosh encouraged him to follow up his dreams to become an artist. Later he was admitted to College of Arts and Crafts, Calcutta and Delhi Polytechnic (Delhi College of Art). He has taught from 1962 to 1996 in Women Polytechnic and Department of Painting, Delhi College of Art, University of Delhi. He has ameliorated Calcutta Painters Society by being a member, of Artists Forum, Society of Contemporary Artists, AIFACS, New Delhi. Dhiraj Choudhury has founded `Quartet Artist` and `Line`, a group devoted to drawing.

Dhiraj Choudhury has more than eighty exhibitions, among which sixteen are international, which is sufficient enough to understand his popularity as a painter. UK, USA, France, Germany, Switzerland, Singapore are the countries where his foreign shows were arranged. In 1979 an exhibition in Geneva with Miro and Dali added a feather to his cap. Dhiraj Choudhury has participated in many National and International Exhibitions and received many awards including National Award on 1995.On the same year he had Exhibitions of his major works at Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Calcutta and All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society at New Delhi.

In 1998 the shows were `50 Years Struggle for Freedom`, a retrospective at Rabindra Bhavan and Lalit Kala Akademi of New Delhi. On 1999 there was `At The Threshold of The New Millennium` at Kumar Gallery, New Delhi. In 2000 there was a traveling exhibition in Sweden on Mural on `Love`. In South of France the paintings `Love` were exhibited at the Millennium Festival, as well as St. Albans, UK. He also painted and exhibited at St. Petersburg, Florida, USA. On 2001 there was a Retrospective of his Water Color painted in the period 1955-2000 at Art Consult of New Delhi. He had many One-man shows among which the exhibition in Art World, Chennai and other one in Time & Space Gallery, Bangalore can be named. Dhiraj Choudhury has curated his own exhibition and art workshops on the theme of `Love` at St. Albans, and Margaret Harvey Gallery at Herts, UK. In 2002 the exhibition on `Colors of Love` paintings at Kumar Gallery New Delhi brought a lot of fame to Dhiraj Chowdhury`s work.

Dhiraj Choudhury has curated and organized workshops and exhibitions on social theme `Their Story` at Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi. On 1982 he became the advisor of `Philosophy of Education for Contemporary Youth` sponsored by ICCR and Department of Culture, Govt. of India. He visited Bangladesh and gave lectures in Dhaka Art College, where there was interaction between Bagladeshi and Indian artists. Beside these Dhiraj Choudhury is involved in many other social works. He is the Art Advisor at the Department of Culture, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi. He was also the Art Advisor of HUDCO, New Delhi and was associated with the Voluntary Health Organization,India. Dhiraj Choudhury initiated `Sketch Club` among his students, organized `Womens` Painters Group`, `Line`, `Quartet Artist` and `Artist Forum`. He is also associated with Gallery 26.

Few of Dhiraj Chowdhury`s publications are `50 Years Struggle for Freedom` published by A. Mukherjee & Co; `South of France Through the Painters Eyes`; `70s 80s 90s Drawings`, `Art Consult:Love at the Threshold of the New Millenium`, Kumar Gallery, New Delhi; Portfolio of `Line, Ton & Texture` ; `Love` ; `Singapore` ; `Child`; `Reproductions of paintings`.

The collection of Dhiraj Choudhury can be found in Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Caparo House, London; Indian High Commission, London; St. Albans Community Center, UK ; National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi; Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi and also in many private collections in India and abroad.