Noted painter, writer and art historian Dr Dinanath Pathy passed away on Monday following a cardiac arrest at a private hospital here. He was 74.
Sources said Pathy had been admitted to the hospital after he complained of illness during his morning walk.
Dr Pathy was born in 1942 and brought up in a family of artists and poets at Digapahandi in Ganjam district. He had started his career as a muralist, theatre curtain painter and a makeup boy. He worked in his brother’s atelier ‘Shilpa Kala Mandira’.
later, he studied painting at the Khallikote College and did his PhD in Art History at Santiniketan.
Dr Pathy started his professional career as a drawing teacher at the Bhubaneswar Kendriya Vidyalaya from 1967 and continued there till 1972. He was the Curator of Arts and Crafts in the Odisha State Museum from 1972 to 1979. He was also the Secretary of the National Academy of Art and the Central lalit Kala Akademi.
As a Divisional Manager of Odisha Tourism, he designed publicity literature and a year-round art exhibition programme Chitra Baramasi.
He was the founder Principal of the Government BK College of Art and Crafts in the city.
He was associated with several institutions like Silpi Samsad, Working Artists Association of Odisha, Odisha Cultural Forum, Crafts Council of Odisha, Odisha Research Society and Sunanda Pathy Foundation.
He has written over 40 books on classical, traditional, tribal, folk, rural and contemporary arts of Odisha. He was famous for his book Digapahandi ra Drawing Master.
Pathy was also known for his collaboration with German art historian Eberhard Fischer and his work with the Rietberg Society in Zurich, Switzerland. In 2014, he was nominated for the Rietberg Award, recognising his lifetime work and contribution to Indian art history.
He was the recipient of ‘President of India Silver Plaque’ for painting.
Condolences on his demise poured in from several quarters from all over the world. Sociopolitical leader and SNSMT chairperson Suparno Satpathy tweeted, “We have lost a great painter an encyclopedia of art history.”