Born in 1931, Shanti Dave lived in the village of Badpura in north Gujarat with his mother and brother. Dave started his career in the field of fine arts as a signboard and banner painter in Ahmedabad. In 1950, Dave joined the Faculty of Fine Arts of the MS University in Baroda, where he obtained both his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in painting.

Today, Dave is known as much for his paintings as he is for his large murals which adorn the walls of art institutions and public spaces all over the world. He was commissioned and flown by Air India to decorate its offices in Frankfurt and Sydney, but the fondest memory he has of a mural he painted is of the one in the VIP lounge of an airport in New York.

The artist works and lives in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.