Ranen Ayan Dutt

Ranen Ayan Dutt (November 24, 1927 – March 3, 2024)^[1] was an Indian painter, illustrator, muralist and graphic designer from Kolkata in West Bengal.^[2][3]

Dutt was born on November 24, 1927 in Sylhet, British India (currently Bangladesh), to a Hindu Kayastha family. His father, Rajanimohan Dutt, was a freedom fighter and worked a modestly paid teaching job at Sanskrit College, Calcutta. His mother, Priyobala, was a homemaker.^[4] Ranen showed artistic proficiency in his early years in the pre-partition of Bengal and was inspired by Abanindranath Tagore and Jamini Roy.^[3][2] After matriculation,^[3] Dutt joined Art College at Calcutta in 1942. He graduated from Government College of Art & Craft, Calcutta with distinction of first class in Fine Arts in 1948.^[5][2] His teachers included painters such as Zainul Abedin,^[2] Atul Bose, Ramendranath Chakraborti and Anwarul Huq. At the end of his studies at Art College, Dutt met and fell under the influence of Annada Munsi, who took him to the world of commercial art. Dutt worked Munsi’s studio ‘Prakashika’ for a few days.^[3] He was also associated with filmmaker Satyajit Ray, who was also trained and mentored by Munsi.^[6]

Soon after graduating, Dutt joined Stronachs India as Art director in Bombay (now Mumbai). On his return to Kolkata, he joined J Walter Thompson (JWT) as its Chief Art Director.^[1] Over two decades, he created several campaigns and promotional material for brands like Tea Board, Tata Steel, Jabakusum and Shalimar hair oil^[2], as well as the campaign Made for Each Other for Wills Cigarettes'.

Dutt designed book covers and posters for Bengali cinema. His film posters include those for Tapan Sinha's Kabuliwala in 1957,^[1] Ajoy Kar's Harano Sur in 1957, Arundhati Devi's Chhuti in 1967,^[7][8] He also designed the book covers for Advaita Mallabarman's Titas Ekti Nadir Naam (তিতাস একটি নদীর নাম), Probodh Kumar Sanyal's Agnisakshi (অগ্নিসাক্ষী) and Kalikananda Abadsta's Kalitirtha Kalighat (কালীতীর্থ কালীঘাট).

In 1974, Dutt started his own firm, R.A.D Associates, for expanding his work in architectural and museum design.^[3]

Dutt designed pavilions and murals for Tata Steel, Tea Board, and Steel Authority of India.^[6] Blending art and architecture, he created a commercial pavilion in 1972 for Asia1972 festival, which drew the attention of Indira Gandhi, who then Prime Minister of India.^[4][9] The Bengal pavilion has become a permanent structure at Delhi.^[6] Likewise, landmarks like Air India Building in Mumbai, Exide Industries and the Indian Institute of Coal Management, Ranchi, have been shaped by Dutt’s aesthetic. He contributed to the archives of the local head office State Bank of India at Stand Road, Kolkata. This has contributed to the financial history of the country.^[6][2]

Besides State Bank of India Archives, he further designed the shipping transport museum (the first floating maritime museum on the Ganges), the Earth Science Museum, and the Steel Museum in Durgapur.^[10]

Alongside his commercial work, Dutt maintained a career as a fine artist, creating paintings, murals, graphics, calendar art, and watercolor paintings that often depicted Kolkata's cityscape and everyday life. His prominent works in sketches include “Trafalgar Square” and “Darjeeling Station”.^[1] notable scenes of foreign views of London city-life etc.^[3]

Dutt's artworks were exhibited in galleries like, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Golpark, Kolkata art gallery (50 paintings were on display) in 2015,^[11] Galerie88 in Kolkata, which also hosted a retrospective exhibition in 2016 ^[6] Dutt had no solo shows. His first verified exhibition abroad was at Dag New York in 2021, in two groups shows, titled as Indian Blue: Fro Realism to Abstraction.^[12]

Dutt also tried to revive the pride in Indian history of mythology, folk tales and culture in his works of figurative drawings, landscapes and advertising materials. For example, his art works of famous Gangasagar Mela scene, illustration of Katha Sarit Sagar Series found appropriate places in his commercial art works for Shalimar hair oil. He stated in an interview:^[2]

I had no knowledge of western art. My art is swadeshi. My commercial art is inspired by deshi galpo (folk tales), such as the stories of kunchbaran kesh raj kanya (the princes with long dark hair)

Ranen Ayan Dutt was awarded a D. Litt by Rabindra Bharati University in 1999 for his contribution in Applied Art.^[3] He was also a member of the Bengal chapter of the Art Society of India.

Ranen Ayan married Hillola, daughter of Umashankar Dutta, a lawyer of Silchar, Assam in 1954. The couple resided at Dover Lane, Ballygunge, Kolkata.^[13] He painted regularly until his nineties. He was admitted on Sunday, 3rd March 2024, to a nursing home for respiratory problems but passed away at night and was survived by his wife and two daughters.^[5]

CSSSC, a social science and humanities research and teaching institute in Kolkata, honored Ranen Ayan Dutt, publishing its 2025 commemorative calendar where they showcased his varied selected artworks, from visual archives of Jadunath Bhavan Museum and Resource Centre (JBMRC), a unit of CSSSC. Dutt’s artworks for a 1961 Philips India Ltd calendar on “Boats and Ships” have been featured in the calendar.^[14][8]