Jatin Das

Born on 2 December 1941 in Mayurbhanj, Odisha, Jatin Das has been painting for 50 years and has held over 71 solo exhibitions both in India and abroad. He is a renowned painter, sculptor, muralist, printmaker, and cultural expert. He is also the Founder and Chairman of the JD Centre of Art. Jatin Das went to study at the Sir JJ School of Art, Mumbai, under the guidance of Prof. S.B. Palsikar.

Jatin Das has an innate fascination with the human figure; his dynamic sketches and paintings often portray figures in motion. He creates images with tonal variations using ink and charcoal. He paints with multiple mediums, such as watercolour, even though oil and acrylic are his cherished mediums. His works overthrow the need for stability and rootedness. Drawn so fast, he creates lines that run and form these energised figures. More than being narrative, his paintings are metaphoric, poetic, and suggestive.

He has lectured extensively in numerous art and architectural colleges and museums on contemporary and traditional art forms and acts as an advisor to many government and private art and cultural bodies. In addition to charitable donations locally and internationally, the artist actively led the relief and rehabilitation work of a village in Orissa after the super cyclone in 1999. 

Das’s commitment to preserving the arts and traditional crafts has led to the making of the JD Centre of Art. The centre in Odisha is under construction and is supposed to hold several classical, modern, traditional, and folk art. Jatin Das' vast collection of modern art, artefacts, handicrafts, handlooms, and art publications will be donated to the centre. The collection includes 6000 Pankhas, one of the most extensive private collections of hand fans, some of which have been displayed in national and international museums. 

He has participated in numerous solo exhibitions, including 'A Retrospective, Govt. Bihar Museum, Patna; (2023); Prakruti Purush, Art and Soul Gallery, Mumbai (2022); Prakruti Purush, Jahangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, (2022); Prakruti Purush (Shiva Shakti), Archer Art Gallery Ahmedabad (2021); Labourer Exodus "Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi (2021); Retrospective Portrait Show 'Artists and friends', Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi (2017); Jehangir Art Gallery/Gallery Art & Soul, Mumbai, (2017); Gallery Astley, Uttersberg, Sweden (2011); Lalit Kala Academy, Chandigarh (2011), and Gallery Art & Soul, Mumbai in 2011.

Jatin Das's selected group exhibitions include The Art of India, TOI, Bikaner House, Delhi, 2023; Light, Colour, Prufrock, Group Show by Art Konsult, VAG-IHC, New Delhi 2023; Rang Sutra, Group Show National Crafts Museum, New Delhi (2022) and Art for Concern Charity Exhibition, Open Palm Court, IHC in 2022.

He is a Padma Bhushan recipient. In a career spanning over five decades, his work has been part of several public and private collections in India and abroad. Most remarkably, he has done several murals and sculpture installations, including a 67"x 7" large mural at Parliament /House entitled "Mohnejodaro to Mahatma Gandhi", commissioned by the Parliament of India on the occasion of 50 years of India's Independence.

He lives and works in New Delhi.

Artworks By Jatin Das