Paul Gopal-Chowdhury was born in India in 1949. He studied in London at the Camberwell School of Art (1967–1968) and the Slade School of Fine Art (1968–1973). After years of proving himself artistically, Gopal-Chowdhury embarked on an academic career as a lecturer at Chelsea School of Art, at Leeds University and the Byam Shaw School of Art (1973–1977). During this period, he was also awarded various grants and a fellowship to pursue his artistic activities (Boise Travelling Scholarship, French Government Scholarship, Gregory Fellowship from Leeds University).
Confident in his high level of technical skill, the artist immediately tackled large-scale paintings, a format he quickly became associated with. Still-life was his genre of choice and through it he called upon the masters of the turn of the century, such as Chardin and Manet. Card-playing figures are another recurrent theme of his, a motif which again nods to the past, namely to Caravaggio, the Le Nain brothers and Cézanne. These two approaches could be described as his career’s first phase. The year 1991, specifically the Angels and Streetwomen exhibition, marked a turning point. Paul Gopal-Chowdhury was unhappy with the show’s title and content and for the first time in his career, despite good reviews, the artist did not sell a single painting. Nevertheless, he seized this opportunity to diversify and subsequently turned to mythical images and depictions partly inspired by Indian art. Daily depictions of his Spitalfields neighbourhood also became a prominent subject at the turn of the millennium.
Other cultural acknowledgements came in the form of artist residences at Cambridge, at Gonville & Caius College and Kettle’s Yard (1983-84) and The Lorne Award (1995).
Paul Gopal-Chowdhury lives and works in London.
