Indian painter, mid-20th century, oils and works on paper

Krishnaji Howlaji Ara

Krishnaji Howlaji Ara (1914–1985) was an Indian painter and a founding member of the Progressive Artists’ Group in Bombay. He worked in oils, known for figurative paintings of women and flowers.

If you have a work attributed to Krishnaji Howlaji Ara, contact: india@privatkunst.ch

Privatkunst.ch grew from a personal interest in works that carry a history. There is always more behind a work of art than first appears — and most stories are not yet fully told.

Many objects in private hands were never properly assessed — because no one with the right knowledge looked at them. That has changed. Open research archives, digitised auction catalogues, and image analysis now make it possible to understand a work in new ways and with a depth of information that simply did not exist before. A work rarely stands alone. And it carries its history within it — if you know how to read it.

If you are interested in how archives, reference sources and new technologies are contributing to the assessment of art, see the article here → — currently only in German.

For an overview of Indian art — modern, contemporary, and the recognition women artists are finally receiving — read here →