Arupdas was born in Chinsurah on 5 July 1927 and spent his childhood in this beautiful town, which had a continuous influence on his art. His mother was a skilled artist. In 1945, he took admission in the Government School of Art, Calcutta. He took considerable inspiration from the paintings in the collection of a Thakur woman named ‘Shrimati’.
In the beginning, he painted rural scenes, clumps of bamboo, date palm groves, rural huts, surrounding greenery, simple daily life of rural people, paddy cultivation, activities of rural women, etc. His talent was evident in these early paintings. It was beginning to become clear in which the patterns of wall decoration were painted in Indian and Japanese style. Soft colours, peaceful atmosphere, natural freshness, musicality, dynamic dramatic situations etc. were inspired by the tradition but tried to depict them in their own way.
After this he kept doing new experiments. He took inspiration from all the modern art and folk styles and like Yamini Rai, Sheila Oden etc., he molded the soft, pleasant, emotional, figurative classical patterns into the vigorous colors and flat lines of folk art. This further enhanced his art.
From 1949, Arupadas started working extensively and composed figurative works in many styles. He thoughtfully distributed various surface effects and designs on the picture. Music in the grove and romance in nature are good examples of this. The pictures of Christ etc. are the figurative panels of his wall paintings. Ajanta also has influence on them.
He has received many awards in picture exhibitions. Handloom Design Competition Award in 1950, purchase of Rural Life by the National Gallery of Modern Art in 1953, President’s Silver Medal on Women on the River Bank in 1961, Gold Medal in Hyderabad in 1958, Best Mural by Lalit Kala Akademi for “Isa” in 1955. Declaring the picture etc. are some of the privileges given to them.
The influences of Impressionism, Materialism, Abstraction, Expressionism and Surrealism can be seen in his work, but he adapts them to the background and Indian figurative style. Like monetarism, they use a multi-dimensional perspective.
Symbolism in his art has also been expressed in an abstract manner. His human figures and animals are animated with emotions. In the visual paintings, he makes cactus, rocks and houses yellow and attractive like a hazy dream and depicts symbolic human figures in them.
He makes the reliefs in the paintings of the nakedness in a special way and gives them a feeling of softness. These look very tempting and attractive. His paintings can be seen permanently in the National Museum of Modern Art, New Delhi and the Museum of Modern Art, Punjab.
