Tej Bahadur Chitrakar

Tej Bahadur Chitrakar
Tej Bahadur in his early twenties
Born	1898 Haugal, Lalitpur, Nepal
Died	1971 Tanlacchi, Kathmandu, Nepal
Spouse(s)	Krishna Maya Chitrakar (m.1918 - death.1936) Mana Keshari Chitrakar (m.1940 until death)
Parent(s)	Shiva Das Chitrakar Aasha Mati Chitrakar
Relatives	Vishnudas Chitrakar (Grandfather) Dilbahadur Chitrakar (Nephew)

Tej Bahadur Chitrakar (Devanagari: तेज बहादुर चित्रकार; 1898-1971) was a Nepalese artist who had a prolific artistic career in the early 20th century. He was one of the leaders in the development of contemporary art in Nepal in the early 20th century. Chitrakar spearheaded the trend of creating art using new techniques for its aesthetic value, and introduced a new style in the milieu of traditional art which is essentially religious and follows descriptions laid down in ancient texts.^[1][2][3]

Personal

Tej Bahadur was born in Lalitpur to a family of hereditary artists, the Chitrakar caste of Newar community. He came to the attention of Chandra Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, the fifth Rana Prime Minister of Nepal and hired Tej Bahadur as a court painter. Prime Minister Chandra Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana sponsored his training at Government Art School in Kolkata heralding a change in Nepalese art scene from traditional religious art to modern Western-style paintings

From 1918 to 1921, Chitrakar studied art at the Government School of Art, Kolkata. He was among the first two officially recognized art teachers in Nepal. The other was CM Maskey. He also began teaching art at Durbar High School and later became head of Juddha Art School^{[1] [4][5]}

He initiated 'Chitrakala Udhyog Sangh' (now defunct) to promote Nepali art.

Honors

In 2009, the Postal Services Department, Government of Nepal issued a commemorative postage stamp (Denomination - Rs. 15) depicting a portrait of Tej Bahadur Chitrakar to honor his contribution to the development of art in Nepal.^[6]

References