Kanu Desai

Kanu Desai, born Kanhaiyalal Hukumatrai Desai (12 March 1907 – 9 December 1980), was an Indian artist, illustrator, and pioneering art director of the twentieth century whose works have been widely appreciated and recognized for their decorative, lyrical, and sentimental qualities. The artist grew up in Bharuch, Bombay Presidency, British India, but, after his parents died, he was sent to Ahmedabad to be fostered by his maternal uncle. The latter decided to nurture Kanu’s creative talents, resulting in young Desai’s enrollment at the Santiniketan Government College of Art under Ravishankar Raval and Nandalal Bose. At that time, the future art director was heavily influenced by the Bengal School of Art and Rabindranath Tagore’s philosophy. Kanu Desai became actively involved in the Indian independence movement, taking part in the 1930 Salt March alongside Gandhi. Using his drawing and watercolor skills, he captured the historic events of the march. Subsequently, the artist expanded his creative horizons by illustrating popular films and working with beloved Indian authors. Kanu Desai produced numerous silhouette drawings, book covers, romantic albums such as Jeevan Mangal and Nritya Manjari , making Indian aesthetics accessible to millions of countrymen. Later, he participated in the Bombay talkie film industry’s emergence as an art director and production designer, contributing significantly to cinema’s development in India. The artists’ remarkable efforts in the field of visual arts were crowned with honors, including the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak and the Filmfare Best Art Direction Award. Kanu Desai’s career began in the early 1920s and lasted for several decades, during which he created many iconic paintings and designed film sets. In 1980, the maestro passed away in Ahmedabad.

Read more about them