A historic retrospective of the globally renowned artist Amitabh Sengupta was arranged by Artworld, an art gallery located in Chennai, and it opened on November 19, 2024. This touring retrospective exhibition, organized by Sarala and Bishwajit Banerjee of Artworld, Chennai, was organized on November 19, 2024, at the Birla Academy of Art and Culture in Kolkata, and will end on February 7, 2024, at Bikaner House in New Delhi. Riccardo Dalla Costa, Consul General of Italy, was the Guest of Honor for the opening night in Kolkata, which also marked the publication of an extensive book on Sengupta’s life and career.

Amitabh Sengupta was born in 1941, and during his six-decade career, he has become well-known throughout the world for his abstract paintings that incorporate elements of European modernism and his experiences traveling across cultures. Sengupta studied at the esteemed École des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1966 to 1971. During the 1970s and 1980s, he had numerous exhibitions in Paris. His intense interest in abstraction and symbolism is evident in his work from this period. Sengupta combined contemporary abstraction with African traditional themes in his exhibits at the National Museum in Lagos while he was living in Nigeria.

Sengupta returned to India in the 1990s and established himself as a major player in the country’s art scene. He held significant solo shows at prestigious locations like Chennai’s Artworld Sarala’s Centre, Mumbai’s Jehangir Art Gallery, and Kolkata’s Birla Academy of Art & Culture. His popularity throughout the world is demonstrated by the fact that his pieces have been included in international exhibitions in Tokyo, London, and New York.

A celebration of Sengupta’s remarkable six-decade career, the current retrospective (2023–2024) offers a thorough examination of his changing artistic style, from early European modernist inspirations to more contemporary investigations of abstraction, symbolism, and human emotion. The retrospective highlights Sengupta’s lasting capacity for innovation and development by showcasing works in a variety of media, such as painting, digital art, and video installations.

Priyanka Dutta