Jogen Chowdhury, Indian Painter Known for Cross-Hatching, Dies at 87 in Kolkata

Jogen Chowdhury, one of the most significant figures in contemporary Indian art, died on Sunday, October 25, 2026, in Kolkata at the age of 87. He died at 10:15 am at Ruby General Hospital in Kolkata. Voice of Kolkata reported the time and the hospital, quoting a statement issued by Ruby General Hospital, and Indulge Express also reported that he passed away at 10:15 am at a private hospital in Kolkata. The Indian Express carried the death in its news feed on October 25, and Ei Samay also reported the death independently.

The hospital statement

The Ruby General Hospital statement said Chowdhury had been suffering from myeloproliferative neoplasm, a rare form of blood cancer, for the past 14 months and was undergoing chemotherapy. It said he had been hospitalised for urinary tract infections during his illness, that his condition deteriorated, and that he developed severe sepsis leading to multiorgan failure. He succumbed despite intensive medical care. The hospital said he also had other co-existing medical conditions that complicated his clinical course.

Ei Samay reported that he underwent nine chemotherapy sessions under the supervision of Dr Tufankanti Dolai, and that he was admitted to a private hospital on Kolkata's Bypass and placed on ventilator support. Indulge Express reported that he had been battling cancer for a while, that he had to be admitted to hospital around Durga Puja after developing an infection, and that he was put on life support the day before he died. He is survived by his wife.

A style built on line

Chowdhury was known for his distinctive figurative style and his cross-hatching technique. His most famous paintings are in ink, watercolour and pastel, though he also painted in oil, and he developed his individual style after his return from Paris. Art historian R Siva Kumar, quoted by Indulge Express, said: "The pulse and rhythm of Jogen Chowdhury's art comes from a filial affinity to nature and milieu. In Chowdhury's more recent works the sensory experiences of cloth, bolsters, sofas and the human body are cross-projected to produce an uncanny world of transubstantiated tumescence and flaccidness."

From Faridpur to Paris

Chowdhury was born in 1939 in Daharpara village in Faridpur, in what is now Bangladesh. He was the son of Pramatha Nath Chowdhury. His father painted scenes from village theatre and sculpted deities, and his mother was an alpona expert. He studied at the Government College of Art and Craft, Kolkata, from 1955 to 1960. He then worked as an art teacher at Howrah Zilla School for two years, and he was then appointed Designer at the Handloom Board in Calcutta. In 1965 he went to Paris to study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in William Hayter's Atelier 17, and he spent around five months in London after his studies.

Art and public life

Chowdhury also served in Parliament. He was a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha for West Bengal from 3 April 2014 to 2 April 2020, with the All India Trinamool Congress. His career joined the studio and public life for decades, and his ink, watercolour and pastel work made his figurative style and cross-hatching familiar across contemporary Indian art. He died in the city where he had studied from 1955 to 1960, and where he was photographed at the Academy of Fine Arts in 2012.