The Bombay Art Society (BAS), founded in 1888, one of the oldest non-profit art institutions in the Asian subcontinent promoting visual arts for 132 years, is presenting its 130th annual art exhibition.

The BAS annual art exhibition, the only art exhibition in India that is held continuously for 134 years except for a few years during the first and second world war, is considered as the talent hunt in the country. The selected 240 artworks hand-picked from a total of 2500 entries received from all over India through a highly refined selection process involving art experts at every stage of selection are presented in this exhibition.

The inauguration of the annual art exhibition is scheduled at 5.00 pm on 01 March at Jehangir Art Gallery at the hand of Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Hon’ble Governor of Maharashtra and Sangita Jindal, Chairperson, JSW Foundation in presence of hundreds of artists.

Lakshman Surybhan Chavan Painting, Swayveden. 48 x 48 Inches Acrylic on Canvas.

The Bombay art society has started Roopdhar Lifetime Samman in the field of visual art for the last seventeen years. This year we are felicitating one of the great artists and Shri Ravi Paranjape with the Roopdhar lifetime achievement award which carries a citation and one Lakh rupees cash as a token of love. The Roopadhar lifetime achievement award will be conferred on Shri Ravi Paranjape on 01 March 2022 at the time of the inauguration of the annual art exhibition.

Mangesh Patil, who works in a realistic style and excels at portraiture bagged this year’s Bendre-Husain scholarship whereas Laxman Chavan’s Acrylic canvas in semi-abstract idiom got him Lalibhai Dharamdas Bhambhani scholarship. The Sandhya Misra Scholarship is presented to Swapnesh Vaigankar for his unique artworks. A perfect fusion of visual arts elements.

Sagar Kamble Painting, Black Rain. 48 x 48 Inches, Mixed media on Canvas.

Sagar Kamble’s Black Rain in mixed media on canvas attracted the judge’s attention, making him the winner of this year’s highest prize, the Governor’s Award which carries rupees one lakh in cash and certificate.

The Bombay Art Society gold medal which carried rupees fifty-one thousand cash, certificate and gold medal is given to Vikas Malhara, for his stunning abstract work. The artworks of Ketan Khutle, Sheelvanth Yadgiri, Vinod Chavan, Rohit Bawadekar, Nema Ram, Basavaraj Achar KR and Harshwaradhan Devtale submitted for the exhibition outshine and own them various awards which will be presented on 01 March 2022 at Jehangir Art Gallery.

This year the award-winning entries include artists from various cities in Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal whereas art students who won awards are from many cities in Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat and West Bengal.

The all India annual art exhibition has been an important art event on the calendar of visual arts events in the country since its beginning in 1888; today it has assumed the form of mega art event for the artists’ community in the western parts of India…not only western parts of India but it is an important event for artists in eastern and southern parts of India as The Bombay Art Society receives exhibition entries as far away as Delhi, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala from many years.

This year, 48 awards to the artists in the categories like paintings, sculptures, graphics, photography along with the Bendre-Husain scholarship, Lalibai Dharamdas Bhambhani and Sandhya Misra scholarship are presented to the young artists.

Amol Pawar Painting, Old Lane Panvel. 12 X 18 Inches Watercolor On Paper.

Bombay Art Society’s scholarships & awards have been a great inspiration in the formative years of today’s many master painters like J. P. Ganguly, Ravi Shankar Rawal, H. Majumdar, Amrita Sher-Gil, S. L. Haldankar, K. K Hebbar, N. S.Bendre, Badri Narayan, A. A. Almelkar, S. H. Raza, K. H. Ara, Mohan Samant, Jatin Das, Prabhakar Kolte and many other younger established names. The art journey of many Indian artists of renown has at some time or the other benefited from the munificence and magnificence of the Bombay Art Society’s past.

The Bombay Art Society (BAS) was granted a piece of land by the Maharashtra State Government and a huge symbol of architectural grandiose stands today on this 10,000 Sq. feet area at Bandra Reclamation, opp Hotel Rangsharada. The Art complex housing three art galleries, an amphitheatre, the art-books Library is a significant addition to Mumbai’s art and cultural infrastructure, providing artists and art enthusiasts with much-needed space for art exhibitions, art residencies, film screenings, live demonstrations, presentations, lectures, workshops, educational activities etc in Mumbai.

Where: Jehangir Art Gallery,

When: 5.00 pm, 1st March till 07 March 2022