Manishi De was a born painter. He was born in an artistic family. Manishi De was brought up by Rabindranath Tagore. It happened under supervision. His elder brother Mukul De and sister Rani Chanda were childhood friends and both were talented painters.
His first teacher of painting was Abanindranath Tagore. Later, he received education from Nandlal Basu in Shantiniketan, yet due to his rebellious and boorish nature, he could not become his blind follower.
He never took education seriously. Painting was a kind of play for him and he used to paint only when he was in the mood.
Different styles are seen in his different paintings. He loved his friends more than his family. His friends in the Tata family encouraged him towards commercial art, as a result he created many beautiful advertisements for Tata, Railways and many textile mills.
He established new paradigms in the field of advertising and design. He has added immense charm to the blossoming and delicate forms of different types of women. He also lived in Bangalore for some time.
Despite being successful in the field of commercial art, his mind was not completely engrossed in it, hence he left that field.
While living in Gwalior, Bombay and South India, he created his best works of art and made many experiments in shapes and in tempera and water colors. After making many sketches of nature and women’s life, he composed a series of paintings of Indian virgins.
In this, he has very skillfully captured the subtleties of the mental states and postures of the Kumaris. He died on 30 January 1966 in Calcutta at the age of 60.
Apart from figure painting, Manishi De has also done modern experiments. He has made a unique use of dark pink colors. His style is full of energy. Nehru ji was also his admirer.
