Prafulla Dahanukar

2021-06-21T05:34:46Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Prafulla Dahanukar
| image = Prafulla Dahanukar photo.jpg
| caption = Dahanukar, the Artist
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1934|01|01|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Goa]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2014|03|01|1934|01|01|}}
| death_place = [[Mumbai]], [[Maharashtra]], [[India]]
| nationality = Indian
| field = [[Visual arts]], [[Painting]], [[drawing]]
| training = [[Sir J. J. School of Art]]
| movement = Progressive Arts Movement
| works =
| patrons =
| awards = Sir J. J. School of Arts Gold Medalist 1955 , The [[Bombay Art Society]] Silver Medal in 1955
}}

'''Prafulla Dahanukar''' (1 January 1934 in [[Goa]] – 1 March 2014) was an [[India]]n [[Painting|painter, a leader in modern Indian art]] who also helped and influenced many young artists in India.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=XLqfAAAAMAAJ&q=Prafulla+Dahanukar&dq=Prafulla+Dahanukar&cd=2 Book Reference]</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/people/An-ode-to-a-master/articleshow/38362438.cms|title=An ode to a master|last=Baria|first=Zeenia |date=14 July 2014|work=[[The Times of India]]|accessdate=24 September 2014}}</ref><ref>[http://www.dignityfoundation.com/pdf/DD-Nov-08/Prafulla-Dahanukar.pdf Prafulla Dahanukar] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710125354/http://www.dignityfoundation.com/pdf/DD-Nov-08/Prafulla-Dahanukar.pdf |date=10 July 2011 }}</ref>

== Biography ==

Prafulla Dahanukar was born Prafulla Joshi in [[Bandora,Goa]] to Shri Subrai Anant Joshi and Smt Kesarbai Bandodkar and raised in [[Mumbai]]. She studied fine art at the [[Sir J.J. School of Art]] in Mumbai and graduated with a Gold Medal in 1955.<ref>[http://goaartgallery.com/prafulla_dahanukar.htm Brief Biodata of Prafulla on Goa Artists.]</ref> She had a studio in the seminal Bulabhai Desai Institute in Mumbai and shared it with V. S. Gaitonde, joining the Indian Progressives Group or artists from 1956-1960. The Institute was filled with luminaries who transformed the art and culture scene in India. The Government of France awarded her a scholarship to study fine art in Paris in 1961.

Prafulla has served the cause of art and painting for all her life. She was a committee member of the Lalit Kala Academy in New Delhi from 1974 to 1979, and the President of Bombay Art Society for 6 years from 1993 to 1998. At present in Feb 2010 she continues to be the trustee of the Jehangir Art Gallery (for last 40 years) and committee member of [[Kala Academy]], Goa (last for 30 years). She was also the President of the Art Society of India and the Chairperson of The Artists' Centre, Mumbai.

Prafulla Dahanukar was one of the founder members of Sangit Kala Kendra with late Shri Aditya Birla, its President for 3 years and has continued to work on its committee for the last 30 years. She is the committee member of the Music Forum. She is on the Board of Trustees of the Indian National Theatre for the last 4 years. Besides the work for the artists, she is involved as the main trustee for last 30 years of an orphanage called Bal Anandgram in Lonavala. She has two daughters, Gauri Mehta and Gopika Dahanukar and five grandkids, Ritam Mehta, Kamakshi Kaarthikeyan, Anam Mehta, Shantala Mehta and [[Keshav (musician)|Keshav]]<nowiki/>a Kaarthikeyan.

== Work ==
[[File:Eternal Space red 48 x 48.jpg|thumb|"Eternal Space"]]
Prafulla Dahanukar painted abstract landscapes in generally one vivid and dominant color, with myriad shades and subtlety. She called her paintings "Eternal Space" as she believed that space is unending and couldn't be destroyed.

== Exhibitions and Museum Collections ==
[[File:Prafulla's Mural on Shivsagar Estate Mumbai.jpg|thumb|Prafulla's Mural on Marble Facade]]
She had solo exhibitions regularly from 1956. While in Paris she held an exhibition of her paintings in 1961 and has since then participated in many international exhibitions in England, Hungary, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, Japan, Portugal, Iceland and France. She has exhibited solo 3 times in London, the first of which was sponsored by the [[High Commission of India to the United Kingdom|High Commission of India]] in 1978. [[Citibank]] sponsored her show in 2006 in Ardean Gallery in Cork Street, London. In India she has had several individual shows in Mumbai, [[Delhi]], [[Calcutta]], and [[Chennai]]. [[Barclays Bank]] recently in November 2008 sponsored her exhibition in [[Dubai]] which was opened by the famous painter [[M.F. Husain]]. On completion of fifty years of her career as a painter, she was honored by the [[Jehangir Art Gallery]] which sponsored a Retrospective show of her career paintings. Prafulla's paintings have been offered on [[Sotheby's]] and Osean art auctions.

Prafulla used her artistic talent in creating murals in ceramic, wood and glass. These murals adorn prominent buildings in Mumbai, [[Pilani]], Kolkata and [[Muscat, Oman|Muscat (Oman)]].

Her paintings are in the collections of the [[National Gallery of Modern Art]] and [[Lalit Kala Academy]] in New Delhi, the [[Nagpur Central Museum|Central Museum in Nagpur]], the [[Prince of Wales Museum]] in Mumbai, and many institutional and private collections in India and overseas.

== Prafulla Dahanukar Art Foundation ==

The [http://www.prafullafoundation.com Prafulla Dahanukar Art Foundation (PDAF)] was started by Dilip Dahanukar, in memory of his wife Prafulla Dahanukar. The PDAF is a unique art foundation, sponsored initially by the leading artists of India sending in a painting each, in memory of Prafulla, with the funds from sale of these paintings launching this non-profit organization, formed '''by artists, for artists'''.

PDAF has grown into one of the largest awarders of fellowships to emerging artists all over India. The foundation is working to support and provide a platform for the community of artists, so that new, young artists get visibility and patronage for their art, and senior artists can guide them through their initial years of struggle.

In 2014, the PDAF launched a new initiative, the Emerging Artist Reward Scheme, which is a contest for artists registered with the PDAF. Through this, the PDAF will give out Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards to artists at the state level and at the all-India level, across six different categories of art i.e.; Painting, Sculpture, Ceramics, Printmaking, Installation and Photography. The overall winners of the contest will win a sponsored solo show at a leading art gallery in Mumbai.

== Awards ==

* 1955: Silver Medal for her painting in the Annual Exhibition of the [[Bombay Art Society]].

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Prafulla Dahanukar}}
* [http://www.AuthorsDen.com/adstorage/82756/PrafullaDahanukar.pdf Prafulla's paintings photobook]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110710125354/http://www.dignityfoundation.com/pdf/DD-Nov-08/Prafulla-Dahanukar.pdf Dignity Article on Prafulla Dahanukar ]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100630045102/http://www.investartindia.com/artists/prafulla-dahanukars-passionate-art-world/ Art World ]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120219061651/http://www.quartet-art.co.uk/ourartists_detail.php?id=8 Quarter Art London ]
* [http://www.timescontent.com/tss/showcase/related/photos/c1/Prafulla_Dahanukar/1/r/Prafulla-Dahanukar.html Times of India Photo ]
* [http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/slideshow_exhibition-by-prafulla-dahanukar_1279418 DNA news ]
* [http://prlog.org/10681146 Latest News 15 May 2010 ]
*[http://www.prafullafoundation.com Prafulla Dahanukar Art Foundation - founded by artists for artists]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dahanukar, Prafulla}}
[[Category:20th-century Indian painters]]
[[Category:2014 deaths]]
[[Category:1934 births]]
[[Category:Women artists from Goa]]
[[Category:Artists from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Indian women painters]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women artists]]
[[Category:Indian women contemporary artists]]
[[Category:Indian contemporary painters]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian painters]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women artists]]
[[Category:Painters from Goa]]
[[Category:Painters from Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Women artists from Maharashtra]]

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Prafulla Dahanukar