BB Mukherjee

1904-1980

Binod Behari Mukherjee was a painter and muralist, one of the
pioneers of Indian modern art. In 1919, he joined Kala Bhavan,
Visva-Bharati University where he later taught. In 1949, he
joined as a curator at the Nepal Government Museum in Kathmandu
and subsequently taught at the Banasthali Vidyapith in
Rajasthan. In 1952, along with his wife Leela, he started an art
school in Mussoorie which did not run long. In 1958, he returned
to Kala Bhavan, and later became its principal. In 1979, a collection
of his Bengali writings, Chitrakar, was published. Mukherjee’s
former student at Santiniketan, filmmaker Satyajit Ray,
made a documentary film on him titled The Inner Eye in 1972
exploring Mukherjee’s creative persona and his ability to cope
with blindness. Among his awards are the Padma Vibhushan in
1974; the Deshikottama by Viswa Bharati University in 1977;
and the Rabindra Puruskar in 1980.