Born in the village of Bela, near Nagpur in Maharashtra, in 1933, B. Prabha was a well-renowned modern Indian artist whose work centred on the lives of rural and working-class women. She studied at the Nagpur School of Art before moving to Mumbai, where she graduated from the Sir J.J. School of Art. There she met sculptor B. Vithal, whom she later married. Inspired by Amrita Sher-Gil, she experimented with watercolours and abstract forms, then moved towards a more decorative figuration, finally settling on oils, which became her trademark medium.

Particularly moved by the struggles of rural and folk women, she made their lives the core theme of her oeuvre. Her subject matter ranged from landscapes and social issues such as drought, hunger and homelessness to the fisherwomen of Mumbai. Early in her career, while still a student, three of her paintings were acquired by the eminent scientist Homi J. Bhabha. She went on to show her work in over 50 exhibitions in India and abroad. In 1993, her solo show ‘Shradhanjali’ in Mumbai was dedicated to her late husband B. Vithal. A selection of her works, ‘B. Prabha – From the Album’, was on display at The Viewing Room, Mumbai. On her canvases, she immortalised the fisherwomen of Mumbai; her graceful, elongated figures of pensive rural women, each canvas dominated by a single colour, continue to mesmerise art lovers. A significant aspect of her body of work was her effort to portray the plight of women across Indian society. She passed away in 2001.