Jagdish Swaminathan was born in Simla in 1928. His education in art consisted of short spells at the Delhi Polytechnic and later, in Poland. It was only in the late 50's that he started devoting his time completely to art. He was a member of the Communist Party of India in the mid-50's and worked as a journalist and art critic for the Left magazines. Swaminathan founded the "Group 1890" in August 1962. This group put up their only show in 1963. As a solo artist, he put up about 31 shows and participated in a number of national as well as international exhibitions.

The main feature of his paintings was simplicity that was rather captivating. The vivid imagery and bright colours were a celebration of the rise of the inner being over the common place. Later on, the well ordered colour geometry and brush painting gave way to the use of symbols. The latter was a distinct influence of the tribal arts and he began to use his fingers to apply the pigment in order to achieve the desired effect.

The artist passed away in 1994.