Artist of the Collection · Rohtas and Patna, Bihar
Ashok Kumar Biswas
Tikuli artist whose practice helped renew a historic Bihari painting tradition.
Ashok Kumar Biswas is a Padma Shri recipient and a leading practitioner of Tikuli art. The Foundation collection holds his richly detailed narrative painting.
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The artist
Tikuli art as living narrative
In the collection work, jewel-like colour, framed scenes and crisp detail create a compact visual story. This connects with Biswas’s long commitment to sustaining and teaching Tikuli art in Bihar.
Awards & honours
2024
Padma Shri
The President of India’s citation recognises his work reviving Tikuli art and training women in rural and suburban Bihar.
Biography
A life devoted to Tikuli art
Born in Rohtas, Bihar, in 1956, Ashok Kumar Biswas trained at Shilp Anusandhan Sansthan in Patna. The President of India’s official citation credits him with more than five decades of work to revive Tikuli art.
He transformed the decorative tradition into a refined form of folk painting and has provided training to women in rural and suburban communities. The 1982 Asian Games also featured his Tikuli paintings as official gifts to participating athletes, according to the official citation.
Biography synthesised from museum, gallery and institutional profiles.
Selected exhibitions
Exhibitions & projects
1982 Asian Games presentation
The official Padma citation notes that Tikuli paintings by Biswas were selected as gifts for participating athletes.
Bihar Museum programmes
Bihar Museum materials document Tikuli art among the state’s living craft traditions and Biswas’s work as a prominent practitioner.
Saraswati Foundation
In the collection
Explore works attributed to Ashok Kumar Biswas in the Foundation collection.
Artwork 303
View artworkPaintings in the collection
Research & further reading
President of India · Padma Awards citation · Bihar Museum · newsletter