List of products by manufacturer Baiju Parthan

Parthan didn’t initially want to be an artist - in Kerala, where he’s from, artists were considered to be at the bottom rung of society. However, in 1974, he came across a book about the history of Western art, and with the knowledge it imparted, from Impressionism to Expressionism and everything in-between, his interest in painting was revived.

Painting gave him a sense of self-worth, assigning a visual space in which he was king, in which he had the freedom to define himself, a freedom to just ‘be’. With that, he enrolled on and graduated in a BFA in Painting at Goa College of Art, Goa (1978-1983).

One of Partha’s other major influences was the book ‘The Age of Reason’ by Jean Paul Sartre. That book, coupled with Goa’s drug culture at the time, redefined the way Partha interpreted the world.

While Western Art (Miro, Larry Rivers, Cubist painters) continued to influence him, he also started exploring the Indian mystical arts. In the early ‘80s, he decided to quit painting, feeling ‘like a missionary for Western art’ – and took up a degree in Comparative Mythology at Bombay University.

He, however, resumed painting in the ‘90s. Since then, he has exhibited his work in a number of places including the Sophia Duchesne Gallery in Mumbai, the Royal College of Art in London, the Live Art Festival in Australia, and Gallery Arts India in New York.