Born in 1914 at Bolarum, Andhra Pradesh K H Ara, the son of a chauffeur, did not receive any formal education in art He spent the early years of his life in the village of his birth near Hyderabad and later moved to Bombay at the age of seven His initial days were a struggle, however, he was fortunate to have met the art critic Rudy von Leyden from the Times of India who saw the work he used to do in his spare time and motivated him to pursue a career in arts

 

One of the founding members of the Progressive Artists Group, Ara evolved his trademark style, especially with his full-bodied nudes and still-life paintings that are inexpressibly marked by a life-affirming popular culture 

The quality of his art comprises intuitiveness, spontaneity, and improvising It was not deliberate or intellectual, intended on finding expression which led to a peculiar eclecticism He was the first in the line of contemporary Indian artists to use the female nude as a muse and artistic subject while remaining within the constraints of naturalism 

 

Ara dedicated the prime of his career to painting nudes and still lifes, juxtaposing the two in a manner of an artistic sleight-of-hand He always stayed clear of the acceptable, the ordinary, and just as his PAG counterparts did and preached There was marked steering away from opprobrium and an attempt to arrive at a style in which an impression of the subject was more important than an actual representation The body is well fleshed out with strong outlines in places with an expressionistic reference He renders the nude in a Western master’s style for whom the delights of the nude lay in their wanton voluptuousness She is completely unrestrained with a revealing face and calmness in her posture

 

He won a gold medal for his ‘Two Jugs’ canvas from the Bombay Art Society in 1952, Governor's Award for painting in 1944, and won a cash prize in Bombay 

 

He conducted his first solo exhibition at the Chetana Restaurant in Mumbai, in 1942; his works were indulged in several groups and solo exhibitions with the Progressive Artists Group between 1948-55 in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Baroda, and Calcutta; participated in Pundole Art Gallery, in 1963; ‘Black Nude’ series exhibition in Mumbai, 1963; his works were also exhibited in different countries such as Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, West Germany, Russia, and Japan  

 

He passed away in Mumbai in 1985