Laxman Shrestha (b. 1939, Siraha, Nepal) is a distinguished Nepal-born artist whose abstract paintings occupy a significant place within the history of modern South Asian art. Educated at the University of Bihar, Patna; the Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai; the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris; and the Central School of Art and Design, London, Shrestha further refined his practice at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and Atelier 17 under the renowned printmaker Stanley William Hayter. His international training exposed him to diverse artistic and intellectual traditions, shaping a distinctive visual language that synthesises modernist abstraction with deeply personal reflection.

Shrestha's paintings are characterised by luminous fields of colour, layered surfaces, and subtle spatial transitions that evoke both landscape and interior states of consciousness. Inspired by memories of the Himalayan terrain and informed by a lifelong engagement with philosophy, literature, and spirituality, his works move between sensuous materiality and contemplative stillness. Rich blues, earthy browns, radiant yellows, and fiery reds emerge and recede within his compositions, creating a dynamic tension between turbulence and tranquillity.

Throughout his career, Shrestha has described painting as an intensely personal process of inquiry. His works often reflect a sustained engagement with existential questions, drawing inspiration from both Western philosophical thought and the teachings of Buddhism and the Upanishads. Since the early 1960s, Shrestha has exhibited extensively in India and internationally through numerous solo and group exhibitions. He has been the recipient of several prestigious honours, including a French Government Scholarship, a British Council Grant, and a Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) residency. Widely recognised for his contribution to modern abstraction, he continues to be celebrated for a practice that combines formal sophistication with philosophical depth.