Grosvenor Gallery presents South Asian Modern Art 2026. Bringing together an exceptional group of works spanning the late nineteenth century through to the contemporary period, the exhibition includes paintings, works on paper, sculpture and textiles by some of the most important names in South Asian modernism.

Highlights of the exhibition include important works by Jamini Roy, Maqbool Fida Husain, Sayed Haider Raza, Francis Newton Souza, George Keyt, Abdur Rahman Chughtai, Mohan Samant, Lancelot Ribeiro, Rashid Choudhury, Prafulla Mohanti and Senaka Senanayake amongst others.

The exhibition also explores artistic exchanges between Europe and South Asia during the colonial period, featuring two exceptional nineteenth-century Bengal School oil paintings depicting scenes from Hindu mythology and devotional life. These highly unusual works combine traditional Indian narrative subjects with European techniques of perspective and oil painting, reflecting the artistic hybridity that emerged in colonial Calcutta.

Another remarkable highlight is a monumental portrait by the Danish artist Hugo Vilfred Pedersen, known as “The Rajah Painter”, whose evocative depictions of India and Southeast Asia earned him considerable acclaim at the turn of the twentieth century. His monumental portrait Once upon a time there was an Indian Princess is believed to depict Princess Cheluvajammanni of Mysore and exemplifies the fascination with princely India that captivated European audiences of the period.

Family, a rare group of sculptural rag dolls by Nek Chand who was the visionary creator of Chandigarh’s Rock Garden. Made from salvaged materials, these figures reflect Chand’s enduring fascination with folk traditions and the transformative potential of everyday objects.

Post-war South Asian modernism is represented through significant works by members and associates of the Progressive Artists’ Group, including Souza, Husain, Raza, K.K. Hebba.

The exhibition also includes politically engaged linocuts by Chittaprosad Bhattacharya, as well as a work by Rashid Choudhury and Prafulla Mohanti that reflect deeply personal engagements with spirituality, rural life and local traditions. Contemporary works by the Sri Lankan artist Senaka Senanayake provide a fitting conclusion to an exhibition tracing more than a century of artistic innovation across South Asia and its diaspora.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated exhibition catalogue.