Art of Indian sculptor Devi Prasad Rai Chaudhary

Devi Prasad Rai Chaudhary was rich in versatility. This painter, besides being a sculptor, was a litterateur, musician, hunter and wrestler. He was also proficient in recitation. But most of all he became more famous as a sculptor. He made bronze, plaster of Paris, marble and clay sculptures. His bronze sculptures became the most famous. Some of his major bronze sculptures are as follows -

● Shaheed Smarak (in Patna)

● Independence Memorial

● triumph of labour (Marina Beach - Chennai)

triumph of labour

Devi Prasad Rai Chaudhary also made sculptures of national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Surendranath Banerjee, Motilal Nehru, Annie Besant etc. Among these, the marble statue of Annie Besant and the bronze statue of Gandhiji became particularly famous.

Devi Prasad Rai Chaudhary was born (15 June 1899– 15 October 1975) in a village called Tajhat in Rangpur district of East Bengal (Bangladesh). All these belonged to the rich Zamindar Gharana and since childhood there was a trend towards art. In view of this, he was sent to study art in 1914 from Avanindra Nath Tagore.

Later Devi Prasad Rai Chaudhary learned modeling and sculpting of idols in Hiranyamay Chaudhary's art studio. When his art education was complete, Devi Prasad Rai Chaudhary started teaching at the Indian Society of Oriental Art Kolkata where he was approached by Italian painter Bayas. He learned the western method of drawing, especially oil painting, from Bayes.The first excellent painting made by him in the oil medium is considered to be "Durga Puja Yatra".

Devi Prasad Rai Chaudhary was a painter whose style of drawing resembled that of his mentor Avanindra Nath Tagore. A major feature of his painting was also to highlight the hilltop female beauty. In such pictures-

● Girl Child of Tibet

● Bhutia woman

● Nepali girl

● Lepcha Kumari

● curiosity

● Kamal Sarovar etc.

Other major images of -

● After the storm 【in watercolor】

● Nirvana 【in oil color

● Dolls of the castle 【in watercolor】

● Bathing pier 【Watercolor】

● Musafir 【in watercolor】

● bridge 【pastel】

● Dangerous paths 【pastel】

Devi Prasad Rai Choudhary is also a spast in watercolors, oil colors and pastels.

He also created person portraits. In which Ravindra Nath, OC Ganguly, Persian Brown were prominent. It is considered to be the best picture of Rabindra Nath Tagore.

Devi Prasad Roy Chaudhary was appointed the Principal of Madras Art School in 1929. He was also appointed the first chairman of Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi, established in 1954.

In 1955, Devi Prasad Rai Chaudhary was also appointed as the chairman of the UNESCO Art Seminar held in Tokyo City, Japan.

The Government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan in 1958. And was also awarded D.Leet by Ravindra Bharti University.