This Kalighat artist’s characters live in the modern world

42-year-old, who claims to be last practitioner of painting style, draws inspiration from contemporary issues

Bhaskar Chitrakar, 42, claims to be the last of the Kalighat painters, the community that originated in the 19th century around the Kali temple of Kalighat: “If you show me one more person in my neighbourhood engaged in the art, I will give up my profession”. He could be right, for modern Kalighat paintings shown off by popular online stores invariably bear his signature. “Art is not everybody’s cup of tea. One needs to be interested in art in order to learn art. I love my art more than I loved my parents,” Mr. Chitrakar, who lives in a modest home in the neighbourhood of Patua Para — close to the Kalighat temple as well as to the residence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee — tells The Hindu. The central figures of a Kalighat painting are usually the Bengali babu and bibi (mostly depicted in comical situations) and the various Hindu gods and goddesses. “Traditionally, there have been political depictions too, but I try to keep away from politics because I happen to be living too close to the residence of a political figure,” says Mr. Chitrakar.