| |
| |
Biography |
| |
 |
“A distinguished traditional artist, Kripal Singh's paintings are poetic. They carry the expression of the traditional and early styles of painting with bold innovations in a delicate and refined manner. His works also claim an important historical place in the organic evolution of traditional paintings. There is no one who can create his style of painting with great detail he has shown.”
Kripal Singh Shekhawat, also known as father of Blue Pottery, was born in a Rajput family on 19th December 1922, in a small village named Mau, Rajasthan, INDIA.
Kripal Singhji’s first formal training in drawing and painting was under Sh. Bhur Singh Shekhawat, and then in Lucknow.
Kripal Singhji studied original painting at the Shanti Niketan in West Bengal and later did a diploma in Oriental Arts from the Tokyo University, Japan.
He revived the art of blue pottery which had become dead. He made many changes with the designs and also came up with new shades of green, yellow, brown, black etc. It was only due to his innovative work that the blue pottery has acquired the fame it has, today. |
| |
For his tremendous contribution to blue pottery, Kripal Singhji was conferred the “Padma Shri” in 1974 and was also honoured with the title “Shilp Guru” by the Government of India in 2002. Unknown to many, Kripal Singhji is renowned for his illustrations in the original document of the Constitution of India.
Other than the above mentioned awards, he was awarded Fellowship of Calcutta Art Society in 1950. Was awarded five times between 1957 to 1961 by Rajasthan Lalit Kala Academy. In 1967, Kripal Singhji was conferred with President Award of “Master Craftsman” As one of the top ten craftsman of the world, Kripal Singhji was invited by World Craft Council to New York. In 1990, government of Rajasthan conferred the title of “Rajasthan Shree” on Kripal Singhji. He was also awarded with awardsa like, Kalidas Academy Award, Kalavid, Sanskriti Samman, Maharana Sajjan Singh Award & Kala Vibhushan.
Kripal Singhji work can be found at various prominent places like, National Gallery of Modern Arts (New Delhi), Lalit Kala Academy (New Delhi), National Museum (New Delhi), IGI Airport (New Delhi), Jawahar Kela Kendra (Jaipur), King of Nepal Collection, President House in Sri Lanka, World Bank (New York), Japan Atomic Energy (Japan) and numerous other places.
During his lifetime, Kripal Singhji held many important designations like, Art Teacher at Shanti Niketan (1948-1951), Director of Sawai Ram Singh Shilpa Kala Mandir, Director of Bank of Baroda (1977-1981), Director of Rajasthan Small Scale Industries (1981-1991), Chairman of Rajasthan Lalit Kala Academy (1997-1999) and many more.
Some of the mural work Kripal Singhji undertook were, Bharat Carries Rama’s Sandals (1945), Life of Gandhi (1955-1958), in the fresco technique at Birla House. |
|
|
