Eminent painter Jogen Chowdhury dies at 87 in Kolkata

Eminent Indian painter Jogen Chowdhury has died in Kolkata at the age of 87 after a long battle with blood cancer, his gallerist and hospital sources confirmed on Sunday.

Chowdhury died on Sunday morning, gallerist Somak Mitra of Art Exposure told The Indian Express. Mitra said Chowdhury had battled blood cancer for 15 months, was admitted to hospital on October 16 and died after an infection.

The Telegraph reported, citing hospital sources, that the artist had been put on ventilation on Saturday, had suffered from incurable blood cancer for more than a year, and had undergone multiple rounds of chemotherapy over the past 14 months after a urinary tract infection during Durga Puja.

A hospital statement reported by the Voice of Kolkata said Chowdhury had suffered from myeloproliferative neoplasm, a rare form of blood cancer, and developed severe sepsis leading to multiorgan failure.

Chowdhury, a Padma Bhushan awardee and former Rajya Sabha MP, was one of the most significant figures in contemporary Indian art, known for his distinctive figurative style and cross-hatching technique. Born in 1939 in Faridpur, in present-day Bangladesh, he moved to Kolkata during Partition and later studied in Paris.

Before the final rites, he will first be taken to his home in South City and then to Charubasona, the museum he opened in 2019 to house his life’s work, according to The Indian Express.