18 Facts About Manishi Dey

Manishi Dey was an Indian painter of the Bengal School of Art.

Manishi Dey was the younger brother of Mukul Dey, a pioneering Indian artist and dry point etcher.

Originally named Bijoy Chandra, Manishi was the fifth child, and third son, of Purnashashi Devi and Kula Chandra Dey.

In 1917, at the age of eight years, Manishi Dey's father died and he was sent to the Santiniketan school Patha Bhavana, which was founded by the Nobel Prize-winning poet Rabindranath Tagore.

Manishi Dey seemed to dislike the preparatory conventions of Santiniketan and became mutinous.

Manishi Dey's education changed favourably when he came in contact with Abanindranath Tagore's Bengal School of Art, the nephew of Rabindranath Tagore.

One of the major sources of Manishi Dey's inspirations were his travels as he traversed tirelessly throughout the Indian subcontinent in search of varied and newer visual idioms.

Manishi Dey's voyages helped him becoming a finished artist in 'Indian Painting' and the water colour 'Wash' technique, an art style he used masterfully in his works.

At just 19 years of age, Manishi Dey held his first solo show 1928 in Calcutta where his brother was establishing himself.

Manishi Dey later became a member of the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group, which was founded in 1947.

Manishi Dey became thus one of the major contributors and transformers of Modern Indian painting.

In 1930, Manishi Dey illustrated the title of a booklet with lecture notes by Jinarajadasa.

Manishi Dey's paintings were well received and highly regarded by fellow artists and critics in the decade prior to his untimely death.

Manishi Dey meanwhile remained in India, especially Bombay and Delhi, until his death in 1966.

Manishi Dey died in Kolkata at the height of his career at 56 years of age.

The works of Manishi Dey have been exhibited for many years in various Indian Museums and Galleries, such as the National Gallery of Modern Art NGMA in Mumbai, the State Lalit Kala Akademi in Luknow, Uttar Pradesh, the Delhi Art Gallery, the Allahabad Museum, the Salarjung Museum, Hyderabad, Kala Bhavan in Santiniketan and in the Samdani Art Foundation in Dhaka, one of the largest collections of Bangladeshi and Indian art worldwide.

Manishi Dey's works receive a renewed international interest since the end of the 20th Century and were exhibited in London and New York.

Since the early 21st Century, Manishi Dey's works are included at major international auction houses, such as Bonhams and Christie's, as well as at numerous high-profile Indian auction houses.