Born in the village of Bela, near Nagpur in Maharashtra in 1933, B. Prabha first studied at the Nagpur School of Art before arriving in Mumbai for further honing her skills as an artist, albeit with hardly any support – monetary or otherwise.
It was a meager existence with no source of sustenance except for some pieces of family jewelry that she sold to survive through this tough phase. She completed a Government Diploma in Painting & Mural Painting from Sir J.J School of Art, Mumbai (1954-55) where she received a scholarship to specialize in mural painting. Her first show, while she was still in the art school, proved a memorable one for her. Homi J. Bhabha, an eminent Indian scientist, acquired three of her paintings. The gesture was a big confidence booster and she never looked back after that.
Recounting her formative years, she had stated: “I dreamt of being a singer and I was equally good at painting. My elder brother advised that I couldn’t master two vocations at a time. So I had to make a choice between singing and painting after completing my matriculation. That was very difficult, indeed! And after a lot of introspection, I opted for painting. At that time, there were not too many women painters (in India). I respected Amrita Sher Gil a lot. My ambition was to become a renowned painter (just like her) and to take my paintings to all corners of the world.”
B. Prabha’s works have been shown in a series of solos and group exhibitions at prestigious venues in India and abroad, including ‘Shradhanjali’, a show dedicated to her husband, sculptor B. Vithal whom she married in 1956. During their long period of struggle, the two were often supported by other fellow artists who offered them a place to stay and even to store their works. Her marriage, in a way, was turning point in her life as the fellow artist changed her perspective both as an individual and also as an artist…
It was a meager existence with no source of sustenance except for some pieces of family jewelry that she sold to survive through this tough phase. She completed a Government Diploma in Painting & Mural Painting from Sir J.J School of Art, Mumbai (1954-55) where she received a scholarship to specialize in mural painting. Her first show, while she was still in the art school, proved a memorable one for her. Homi J. Bhabha, an eminent Indian scientist, acquired three of her paintings. The gesture was a big confidence booster and she never looked back after that.
Recounting her formative years, she had stated: “I dreamt of being a singer and I was equally good at painting. My elder brother advised that I couldn’t master two vocations at a time. So I had to make a choice between singing and painting after completing my matriculation. That was very difficult, indeed! And after a lot of introspection, I opted for painting. At that time, there were not too many women painters (in India). I respected Amrita Sher Gil a lot. My ambition was to become a renowned painter (just like her) and to take my paintings to all corners of the world.”
B. Prabha’s works have been shown in a series of solos and group exhibitions at prestigious venues in India and abroad, including ‘Shradhanjali’, a show dedicated to her husband, sculptor B. Vithal whom she married in 1956. During their long period of struggle, the two were often supported by other fellow artists who offered them a place to stay and even to store their works. Her marriage, in a way, was turning point in her life as the fellow artist changed her perspective both as an individual and also as an artist…
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