Website of contemporary visual artist Chitra Ramanathan

* Predominantly large-scale paintings

Drawing and painting since the age of four when Chitra Ramanathan made her foray into art and music at a weekend art school for children in Kolkata, India, she was entered in competitions through several of which she earned prizes throughout her growing years. When she was ten years old, she was declared a winner in a national child art competition organized by Hindustan Unilever Limited, India. Some of her early recollections include her watercolor paintings being selected for exhibition at the Birla Academy of Art & Culture Kolkata India  at the age of eleven and being awarded a silver trophy by eminent sculptor Chintamani Kar at the venue.

The early successes led to her seeking higher education by earning a Bachelors degree in Fine Arts from Stella Maris College, Chennai India. After moving to the United States in the 1980s, she continued her education in art and earned a second Bachelors degree in Painting with honors from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in 1993 followed by a M.B.A in Human Resources and Art Museum Administration in 1997 that included a summer internship  at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, Broadway, New York in 1996.

Her work has attracted visiting artist lectures to institutions within the U.S and abroad, including a 2005 invitation from Professor Dr. Maurice Cockrill to London's Royal Academy of Arts for a visual presentation of her body of work and conducting student tutorials at the Royal Academy Schools.

Chitra earned her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Painting with Honours in 1993 from the College of Art and Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, during which period she also allotted time to study Painting and Art History in Paris, France, with extended time spent at Claude Monet's garden in Giverny, France and other parts of Europe that influenced her later work. She completed a M.B.A from the same university in 1997. The artist returned to France in April 2010, accepting a invitation to complete a self-directed artist residency at Marnay-sur Seine, completing her month long work in April 2010 with a trip back to Giverny. 

Also an educator, Chitra Ramanathan has taught courses and workshops Acrylics and Mixed media Painting, the predominant mediums of her originals at the Indianapolis Art Center, Indiana, USA, while accepting freelance projects including visiting artist lectures within the U.S and abroad, public art commissions, teaching study-abroad painting courses, invitations art jury requests, corporate art licensing, or donations. (Please visit other links within this website to view details of completed projects).

She is a current member of Americans for the Arts, served in the Committee for Diversity Practices of the College Art Association, New York from 2007-2010, and as a past volunteer at the Lilly House and Oldfields Gardens of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, being a member of the IMA since 2004. 

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Quotes of Chitra Ramanathan

 "My art has grown with me since early childhood; as far back as I can recollect. It has always given me this intense inner peace and joy".

"I feel happiness is like a garden. Seasons change and it's the same with the mental state of happiness. (Optimistically) good times follow difficult phases in life - it's a cyclical concept"..

Above: "Nature's Bounty", Mixed media painting on paper. Sold, Primary Colours - Indianapolis auction, 2006 Image © Copyright Chitra Ramanathan 2010

"I wish to continue painting as long as I live. I would like to work on more public and corporate art commissions, maybe liven up buildings and offices that people see every day..." - Interview profile by Della Pacheco, Women in Business section, the Indianapolis Business Journal, Indiana U.S.A, April 2007.

"I consider happiness to be irresistible, fleeting, and ephemeral. You can never really capture it but instead imagine it in so many colorful ways. I try to put these emotions down each time I set out to create.

Right from the beginning, I think of the visual impact of my finished paintings being exposed to natural versus artificial light and of different times of day, because of the presence of iridescent hues in many a piece. Similarly, textures can "play" with the eye when viewed under different light settings. I have progressively explored methods to capture the best effects of color, light and texture Color, light and texture play very important roles in my work, as well as process and minute details in the tradition of Indian Miniatures" - Interview profile by Melissa Merle, The News-Gazette.com, Illinois U.S.A, 2003.

"My drawings are the backbones of my paintings."

"I feel fortunate that my work has got accepted so favorably - people who come across my paintings on various websites have been writing to me, and many have become collectors of my work. I am thankful that my work has traveled to different parts of the U.S and Europe. I have done a fair amount of donating work to worthy causes. Currently some of my paintings are designated for auction, proceeds from sales to reach organizations  committed that benefit causes that benefit children on a global scale.

"Water - I love water! It is so essential for life on our planet. Rivers, seascapes - anything portraying the vast expanses of it in different kinds of lighting might be interesting"  (When asked about the most beautiful thing (featuring landscape as subject) to paint - Profile interview by Kasey Jackson,The Indianapolis Star Media Group: Fishers Geist Magazine, Indiana, USA July 2007.