Painting exhibition of veteran artist N.C. Desai in Hubballi

Master artist NC Desai’s painting exhibition will be held in Hubballi between 1-4 November 2025.

Family members said in a statement that this was part of the birth centenary celebrations of the Karnataka Lalit Kala Akademi award winner, known for his portraits of Swami Vivekananda and the Global Ganesh series. Sri Gurusidda Rajayogindra Swamiji, Moorusavira Math will inaugurate the exhibition at 11 am at Vijaya Mahantesh Lalit Kala Mahavidyalaya near HDMC office on Lamington Road in Hubballi.

Mr. Desai’s contributions

Born in Agadi village of Haveri district in 1924, Mr. Desai was a student of art educator GS Dandavatimath and a graduate of the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy School of Art in Mumbai. Paintings of Swami Vivekananda and Vishvavyapi Ganesha are exhibited worldwide. His research brought to light the forgotten medieval artist Solapur Shubaraya and shed light on the art of tribal communities such as Warli of Talasari, Chitari of Sawantwadi and Patta of Odisha.

Kangiten twin Ganesha is a painting by artist NC Desai. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL EDITING

During his time in Mumbai, he regularly contributed to Kannada journalism from the 1970s to the 90s. He designed the front pages of magazines, wrote articles on art criticism, and promoted young artists and singers. His photographs have appeared in most Marathi and south Indian language newspapers and magazines. He contributed to Kannada magazines and newspapers. kasturi, Tushara, Taranga, sudha, Mayura, prajavani, Prabha in Kannada, samyukta karnataka and spiritual journals Sadbodha Chandrike And Viveka Sampada.

During the last few decades of his life, Mr. Desai ran an art studio in Hubballi. He previously served on the design and communications team at Premier Auto Limited. He passed away in Hubli in 2003.

Portrait of Swami Vivekananda by artist NC Desai. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL EDITING

10,000 pages of work has been digitized

Servants of Knowledge, a digital archive group based in Bengaluru, has digitized nearly 10,000 pages of his work, including articles, images and photographs, and uploaded them to archive.org. A QR Code will be issued to access the material during the opening.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, artist and member of the Karnataka Lalit Kala Academy Basavaraj Kalegar, Anandavana seers Shri Gurudatta Chakravarthy and Shri Vishwanath Chakravarthy in Agadi, Honorary Executive Chairman Aravind Kubasada and Honorary Director of Shri Jagadguru Moorasavir Math Shashidhar Sali, retired Medical Officer of HDMC VB Nithali and others will be present.

The exhibition will be open to the public between 11.00-18.00 between 1-4 November.