R B Bhaskaran

Paintings by leading Indian artist R B Bhaskaran, often large-scale and vibrant, use a stripped-down imagery that celebrates form, color and ground. Only the best artists make a success from such simplicity. They capture our imagination and draw us into the work. These paintings allow us to explore intangible thoughts, feelings, and fleeting private moments. Bhaskaran’s paintings are great artworks, and great art teaches us something about ourselves.

Modern and contemporary art from India is now international in its collecting base. Leading artists such as R B Bhaskaran have always operated on a global platform. Born in 1942 in Madras, India, Bhaskaran made work that was an important part of the exciting explosion of modern art that began in India in the 1960s. He moved between India, the US and the UK, working and learning with some of the best.

Just like those of his contemporary, Howard Hodgkin, Bhaskaran’s paintings are distinctive. The brushstrokes and limited palette of strong colors point us straight to the artist and the spontaneity of his forms. While his images may appear to be simple in their choice of objects and shapes, they are anything but, which is why they hold our attention and draw us in. Each work, peppered with mark-making, lines, dots and color spots, creates paths that expands the narratives the paintings offer.

We see plants, trees and animals, pots and vases, people and cats. Lots and lots of images of a cat, which in Bhaskaran’s hands becomes a timeless form that mirrors and confronts us. Human-like, long-limbed, independent and commanding attention, it is primarily through the anthropomorphic image of the cat that Bhaskaran has chosen to explore his painting, his life as an artist and the world he inhabits.

Ultimately these are great paintings to live with. They have a weight to them, a quality that comes from a great painter who is an acknowledged master of his craft.

R B Bhaskaran trained at the Government College of Arts and Crafts, in what was then Madras, today Chennai. He obtained his masters in the UK and from 1970–80 expanded his practice at the Smithsonian in the United States. He has held prestigious positions within the art world in India including as chairman of the Lalit Kala Akademi in Delhi between 2002–07. His work is held in major public and private collections worldwide. Bhaskaran continues to live and work in Chennai, South India.

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Used to refer to a time rather than an aesthetic, Contemporary art generally describes pieces created after 1970 or being made by living artists anywhere in the world. This immediacy means it encompasses art responding to the present moment through diverse subjects, media and themes. Contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, performance, digital art, video and more frequently includes work that is attempting to reshape current ideas about what art can be, from Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s use of candy to memorialize a lover he lost to AIDS-related complications to Jenny Holzer’s ongoing “Truisms,” a Conceptual series that sees provocative messages printed on billboards, T-shirts, benches and other public places that exist outside of formal exhibitions and the conventional “white cube” of galleries.

Contemporary art has been pushing the boundaries of creative expression for years. Its disruption of the traditional concepts of art are often aiming to engage viewers in complex questions about identity, society and culture. In the latter part of the 20th century, contemporary movements included Land art, in which artists like Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer create large-scale, site-specific sculptures, installations and other works in soil and bodies of water; Sound art, with artists such as Christian Marclay and Susan Philipsz centering art on sonic experiences; and New Media art, in which mass media and digital culture inform the work of artists such as Nam June Paik and Rafaël Rozendaal.

The first decades of the 21st century have seen the growth of Contemporary African art, the revival of figurative painting, the emergence of street art and the rise of NFTs, unique digital artworks that are powered by blockchain technology.

Major Contemporary artists practicing now include Ai Weiwei, Cecily Brown, David Hockney, Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Kara Walker.

Find a collection of Contemporary prints, photography, paintings, sculptures and other art on 1stDibs.

Animal paintings depict the beauty and power of nature in an elegant way that can complement any room. Interacting with animals has long captured the imagination and has been interpreted in diverse artistic media.

Some of the oldest works of art have included animals, such as a cave painting found in Indonesia dating back more than 45,500 years that shows a wild pig in red ocher pigment. Animals have continued to appear in every era and style of art, from realism to Pop art and everything in between.

Some paintings portray animals in their natural habitat, highlighting the majesty of wild creatures roaming the plains, forests and jungles. These paintings often feature deer, tigers, wild mustangs and other wildlife. Others focus on domestic animals such as dogs — pay a visit to the Museum of the Dog if you don’t believe us — as well as cats and how they interact with the world and their owners.

Picking the right animal painting for a room — as well as knowing how to arrange your new wall art — can take time. But, in the end, it will tastefully reflect your interests and passions. While an expansive landscape painting helps open up a small space, hanging a horse painting in a den shows a love for equine culture and can invite interesting conversation.

There is animal art to fit every collection on 1stDibs. Explore a wide selection of animal paintings and animal prints in a range of styles and designs to match any home or office.