ABOUT THE ARTIST
Born in Lothal in Gujarat, one of the most important sites of the harappan civilisation (3300-1300 bce),
Himmat Shah’s long-term engagement with terracotta traces its roots to the ancient antecedents of his
birthplace, seen especially in his sculptural heads.
As a young boy, Shah studied in Bhavnagar at Gharshala—a school associated with nationalist
renaissance in Gujarat—where he was initiated into arts by artist-educator Jagubhai Shah. Going
against the grain of his Jain mercantile family, he studied at Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay, and then
at M. S. University, Baroda (1956-60). He went to Paris in 1967 for two years on a French government
scholarship, studying under printmakers S. W. Hayter and Krishna Reddy at Atelier 17. This sojourn
helped him interact with European modernism.
A versatile artist, Shah has experimented across forms and mediums, making burnt paper collages,
architectural murals, drawings, and sculptures in terracotta and bronze, though he sees himself
primarily as a sculptor. His selfdesigned tools and innovative
techniques give his preferred mediumterracotta-a contemporary edge. Shah
uses a number of hand tools, brushes
and instruments to carve, shape and
mould his works. He has designed and
executed monumental murals in brick,
cement, and concrete.
A founder member of Group 1890,
Shah won the Lalit Kala Akademi’s
national award in 1956 and 1962, the
Sahitya Kala Parishad award in 1988,
and the Kalidasa Samman from the
Madhya Pradesh government in 2003.
He lives and works in Jaipur.
