Avinash Chandra

Avinash Chandra (28 August 1931 – 15 September 1991) was an Indian painter, who lived and worked in the United Kingdom.[1]

Avinash Chandra
Born	(1931-08-28)28 August 1931 Shimla, India
Died	15 September 1991(1991-09-15) (aged 60)
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Painter

He was born on 28 August 1931 in Shimla, India,[2] and was brought up there and in Delhi. His father was the manager of the Cecil hotel in Delhi. He attended, and later taught at, Delhi Polytechnic.[3] His students include Paramjit Singh, Arpita Singh and Gopi Gajwani.[4] His 1955 "Snow in Pahalgam" sold for INR 4,375,000.

He moved, with his wife, to Golders Green, London, in 1956.[3][5]

In 1962 he was featured in a BBC Monitor documentary, presented by W.G. Archer,[5][6] and in 2018 in the BBC documentary Whoever Heard of a Black Artist?.[1]

He died in London on 15 September 1991.[2]

Awards and recognition

Chandra won first prize at the First National Art Exhibition of Art, in New Delhi, in 1954.[5] and the gold medal Prix Européen in 1962.[5]

A solo exhibition was held at the Hamilton Galleries in London in 1965.[3] His work was also exhibited as part of The Other Story: Afro-Asian artists in post-war Britain at the Hayward Gallery in 1989;[3] and is in collections including those of the Arts Council of Great Britain, Ashmolean Museum, Kettle's Yard, Durham University, Leicestershire County Council, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Museum of Modern Art (Berlin), Museum of Modern Art (Haifa), National Gallery of Modern Art, the National Trust for England, New York University, Punjab Museum, Tate, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.[5][7][8]

Solo exhibitions

1987 Avinash Chandra, Horizon Gallery, London.[9]

Group exhibitions

1987 The Other Story, Hayward Gallery, London.[3]

Reviews, articles, texts, etc.

[10]

- Rasheed Araeen, 'Conversation with Avinash Chandra', Third Text, no.3/4, (Spring - Summer 1988), 69-95.

- 'Avinash Chandra', Third Text, no.16/17, (Autumn - Winter), 3-4.

- James Burr, 'Obituary', Apollo, no.135, (January 1992), 54.

References

1. "Whoever Heard of a Black Artist?".  . 30 July 2018. BBC. Retrieved 4 August 2018.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
2. DELARGE, LE. "CHANDRA, Avinash". Le Delarge. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
3. "Diaspora-artists: View details". Diaspora Artists. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
4. Avinash Chandra: The Disappearing Artist, Somak Ghoshal, Open Magazine, 22 April 2016
5. "Avinash Chandra 1931-1991". Tate. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
6. "Correspondence about the making of the BBC Monitor film on Avinash Chandra". The National Archives. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
7. "Avinash Chandra". Christies. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
8. "Avinash Chandra (1931–1991)". Art UK.
9. Keen, Melanie. (1996). Recordings : a select bibliography of contemporary African, Afro-Caribbean and Asian British art. Ward, Elizabeth., Chelsea College of Art and Design., Institute of International Visual Arts. London: Institute of International Visual Arts and Chelsea College of Art and Design. ISBN 1-899846-06-9. OCLC 36076932.
10. Keen, Melanie. (1996). Recordings : a select bibliography of contemporary African, Afro-Caribbean and Asian British art. Ward, Elizabeth., Chelsea College of Art and Design., Institute of International Visual Arts. London: Institute of International Visual Arts and Chelsea College of Art and Design. ISBN 1-899846-06-9. OCLC 36076932.

Further reading

• Archer, W.G. (January 1961). "Avinash Chandra: painter from India". The Studio. 161 (813): 4–7.
• Archer, W.G. (1965). Avinash Chandra. Hamilton Galleries.
• Araeen, Rasheed (1988-03-01). "Conversation with Avinash Chandra". Third Text. 2 (3–4): 69–95. doi:10.1080/09528828808576190. ISSN 0952-8822.