Meera Mukherjee

Meera Mukherjee is inspired by the common man. Ordinary people doing everyday things find a manifestation in their art. Fishermen, weavers, and women sewing, all have been subjects of her work. Meera is a painter as well as a sculptor. She developed her unique technique for making wax sculptures in the latter field. Bengali calligraphy often makes its way into her work. Music and dance are also my favorite subjects.

Meera was born in Calcutta in 1923. Until 1941 she studied in art classes run by the Indian Society of Oriental Art. She joined Delhi Polytechnic in 1947 to continue her education. At the end of this, she had the opportunity to work with the prominent Indonesian painter Effendi, who was then living and working in Shantiniketan. In 1953 she traveled to Germany to study painting. After her return from Germany, she held her first exhibition of her in 1960. She also actively participated in researching popular metal castings and casting techniques of Indian classical sculptures.

Two distinct traits represent the spirit of Meera's work. The first is the celebration of humanism and the other is a burning desire to break free from routine and enjoy freedom.

Meera Mukherjee died on January 27, 1998, in Narendrapur, at the age of 75 years old.

BORN

May 12, 1923 Calcutta

DIED

January 27, 1998 Narendrapur

EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS

1961-62 Popular metal casting with artisans from West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, metal work with Nepalese Sakya artisans

1960s Popular metal casting with Bastar Gharuas

1953-56 Academie de Nildenden Kunstem, Germany, Painting with Prof. Glethe, Sculpture with Prof. Stadler & Heinrich Kirchner, Engraving with Prof. Thiermann, Lithography with Prof. Lowasser

1947-51 Diploma in Painting, Graphics and Sculpture, New Delhi Polytechnic

1937-41 Indian Society of Oriental Art, Calcutta

SELECTED POSTHUMOUS EXHIBITIONS

2013-14 Transition, 20th anniversary exhibition, Center for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata

2012 Meera Mukherjee A World in Bronze, supported by ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) and made by Akar Prakar Gallery, Kolkata, and the Buchheim Museum in cooperation with the Indian Institute, Munich at the Buchheim Museum, Bernried, Germany 2012 Sculptures by Meera Mukherjee (1923-1998), presented by Akar Prakar & WelcomSheraton Hotel New Delhi as a collateral event of India Art Fair 2012

2011 Time Unfolded, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi

2011 Intuitive Logic Revisited, from the Osians Collection at the World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland

2010 Memoirs of Meera, Akar Prakar, Kolkata

2009 Continuous Modern, Galerie 88, Calcutta

2008-09 Expanding Horizons Contemporary Indian Art, traveling exhibition presented by Bodhi Art at Ravinder Natya Mandir, P.L.Despande Kala Academy Art Gallery, Mumbai, Sant Dyaneshwar Natya Sankul Art Gallery, Amravati, Platinum Jubilee Hall, Nagpur, Tapadia Natya Mandir Sports Hall, Aurangabad, Hirachand Nemchand Vachanalays, Solapur, Acharya Vidyanand Sanskrutik Bhavan, Kolhapur, PGSR Sabhagriha, SNDT, Pune, Sarvajanik Vachanalaya Hall, Nasik

2008 3 Masters Briefly, Akar Prakar, Kolkata

2008 Santhal family positions around an Indian sculpture, in association with Bodhi Art and with the support of the British Council, Kunststiftung NRW, and Antwerp Provence at the Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp (MuKHA), Belgium

2008 Exhibition of sculptures by Meera Mukherjee (1923-1998), Galerie 88, Kolkata

2008 Freedom 2008 Sixty years after the independence of India, Center for International Modern Art (CIMA), Calcutta

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

1997 Gallery 88, Calcutta

1997 Art Today, New Delhi

1960 Sculpture and painting, Max Mueller Bhavan, Calcutta

1952 Paintings and sculptures, Calcutta

1941 Oriental style painting, Calcutta

1993 Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata

1981 Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta

1980.94 Gorky Sadan, Calcutta

1966 Sculpture, Chemould Gallery, Calcutta

1941,1952,1960 Calcutta

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2006 Bronze, organized by Gallery Espace at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

2004 The Margi and the Desi Between Tradition and Modernity, presented by Gallery Espace at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

1997 National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi

1952-56 Munich

1949-51 New Delhi

HONORS AND AWARDS

1992 The Government of India award the Padma Shri

1981 Abanindranath Award from the Government of West Bengal

1976 Calcutta Ladies Study Group Excellence Award

1968 the Master Craftsman, from the President of India

meera mukherjee