Born in Kolkata in 1935, Sakti Burman studied at the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Kolkata, and later at the École Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris. Burman uses pointillism and a marbling technique achieved by blending oils with acrylics to create fresco-like works on paper and canvas. Burman’s paintings often evoke a surrealist feel, referencing multiplicities of time and place. His art drew extensively from Hindu and European mythology, as well as from the artist’s own memories. Suggesting surrealism, his paintings are populated by humans, animals and cityscapes that are dreamlike in appearance. His defining oeuvre owes largely to his technique of marbling, which he arrived at after years of experimentation. Burman travelled to Italy in 1958 and his encounter with the frescoes of Giotto, Piero de la Francesca and Simone Martini inspired him to assimilate their monumentality and textures in his works.

The artist lives and works in New Delhi.