Acrylic painting by Chunilal Dutta Gupta
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
This month, the walls of Lalit Kala Akademi paid homage to Bengal: its Baul singers, the riverfold, and quiet rhythms of the countryside. This, courtesy of artist Chunilal Dutta Gupta’s acrylic brushstrokes. But, long before the artist became associated with these iconic portraits of Baul musicians, and the quiet poetry of rural landscapes, a young Gupta would finish college, walk across Kolkata’s Maidan, and sit on the ghats of the Ganga, sketchbook in hand, teaching himself the art of observation that paved the way for his artistic journey.
Born in Mymensingh district (now in Bangladesh), Gupta migrated and joined his elder brother Makhan Lal Dutta Gupta in Calcutta in 1940 for his schooling. A move, that like many journeys of that time, was one filled with displacement and hope. He later studied at the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Calcutta, where the city’s vibrant cultural scene shaped his artistic vocabulary. “My school was near Kalighat, called Kala Dhan. I would observe the people there, and they became a source of inspiration for many of my works.” During the course, Gupta had to make the life-altering choice of whether to choose sculpture, fine arts, or commercial arts. Thinking of the financial aspect, Gupta took up commercial arts.
Acrylic painting by Chunilal Dutta Gupta
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Graduating in 1953 with the first-rank was not just an academic milestone, but a doorway that led him to the world of advertising. He began his career at J Walter Thompson in Calcutta, a space brimming with creative energy, of illustrators and artists. Gupta, who had once sketched riverbanks and local folk, now found himself drawing products for clients and characters for campaigns. In Thompson, he met Charles Moorehouse, who gave him his first project: “At that time, Horlicks had just come to the Indian market, and he wanted me to sketch the advertorial for it. He told me that he had seen my sketches, and impressed, he wanted me to work with them.”
Thereafter, he started working for newspapers like Jugantar, Statesman, and Dainik Basumati. In 1957, the artist was transferred to the agency’s Madras branch — a move that would shape his life for decades. He found warmth in the city’s artistic circles, forming friendships with artistic legends. “I met RK Swamy, who was the manager of JWT Madras, which later became Hindustan Thompson Associates. He was one of the people who supported me during my time in Madras,” he shares.
Chunilal Dutta Gupta at Lalit Kala Akademi
| Photo Credit:
special arrangement
When Gupta retired in 1995, he returned to the easel as a full-time painter. His art blossomed into an exploration of themes deeply personal, resonating with a life lost in a different Bengal, and comprised scenes of rural life, fishing, and musicians.
His work found patrons in Chennai’s Sarala Art Gallery, through whom he created portraits of Indian icons like CV Raman, Dr Lakshmanswami Mudaliar, Mary Clubwala Jadhav, as well as Dr Shri Prakash of the Greenways Group and Dr KM Cherian of Frontier Lifeline Hospital. His artworks adorn the walls of the University of Madras and their convocation hall, the Government Museum Chennai and private collections across India, the US and South Korea. He has also illustrated historian S Muthiah’s book called, Madras that is Chennai – Queen of the Coromandel.
At 96, Chunilal Dutta Gupta still begins some mornings by picking up a pencil. The advertising deadlines are gone, the riverbank is far, but his love for sketching lives on.
The exbition is on At Lalit Kala Akademi, till today.
Published – October 24, 2025 10:56 am IST
