Description

Krishnaji Howlaji Ara (16 April 1914 – 30 June 1985) was an Indian painter and is seen as the first contemporary Indian painter to meticulously use the female nude as a subject. He was a part of the Progressive Artists' Group and was a founder of the Artists' Centre in Mumbai.

Ara was born in Bolarum, Secunderabad in April 1914. He ran away from his home to Mumbai when he was seven. The city remained his home until his death in 1985. In Mumbai he earned a living by cleaning cars and later found employment with an English family as a houseboy. While employed he nevertheless found time to engage with his passion for painting and it soon caught the attention of first Rudy von Leyden, an art critic from the Times of India, and then Walter Langhammer, the Editor of the Illustrated Weekly of India. Langhammer was so impressed by Ara's skill that he had him enrolled at the J.J. School of Art.

Ara held his first solo show at the Chetana Restaurant in Bombay in 1942 which was a runaway success. He joined the Progressive Artists' Group which included M F Husain, H A Gade, S H Raza, F N Souza and Sadanand Bakre in 1948. The group set up the Artists' Centre at Kala Ghoda, behind the Prince of Wales Museum. He held several shows with the group but with Souza, Raza, Gade and Bakre leaving India, the group became undone. From 1948 to 1955, Ara held several solo and group shows in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Baroda and Calcutta and later had solo exhibitions across Eastern Europe, Japan, Germany and Russia.

Ara began his career doing landscapes and paintings on socio-historical themes but he is best known for his still life and nude paintings. Ara was the first contemporary Indian painter to focus on the female nude as a subject while staying within the limits of naturalism. A large body of his of his works deal with still life and human figure studies.