Om Prakash Sharma, a revered abstract modernist painter, was born in 1932 in Bawal, Haryana Throughout his career, he gained recognition for his numerous abstract paintings, particularly for his experimentation with the Neo-Tantric art movement of the 1960s Additionally, he created a captivating series of ragamala paintings centered around this theme

After completing his education at Delhi Polytechnic in 1958, Om Prakash Sharma embarked on a career as an art educator at the DAV School in Delhi During this period, his artwork garnered attention, leading to solo exhibitions in galleries across India and the United States, establishing his growing success and acclaim In 1964, Sharma was granted a Fulbright Scholarship to pursue postgraduate studies in Art History and Fine Art at Columbia University and the Art Students League of New York It was during this time that he formed friendships with significant American artists like Robert Motherwell, Jasper Johns, Phillip Guston, and the renowned Color Field painter Mark Rothko

Inspired by Rothko's ability to distill shape and color, Om Prakash Sharma developed a purely abstract visual language that transcended the confines of realism He possessed a profound dedication to the conceptual nature of art and wholeheartedly embraced abstraction while seamlessly blending Indian visual idioms In 1985, the esteemed American painter and curator Lee Mullican featured Sharma's work in a Neo-Tantra exhibition at the University of California, Los Angeles

The artist's works have been showcased in several notable solo exhibitions, including those organized by Lalit Kala Academy in Delhi (2007), Visual Art Gallery at IHC in Delhi (2005), and Gallery Zen in Bangalore (2001) In recognition of his artistic achievements, Om Prakash Sharma received a national award for painting from the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1969 Sadly, he passed away on July 18, 2019, leaving behind a profound legacy in the world of abstract art