The Academy was formally established in 1933. Sir R.N. Mookerjee, father -in-law of
Lady Ranu Mookerjee was the first Chairman of its Executive Comittee.
In the forties Lady Ranu Mookerjee joined the Academy.It was then housed in a room
loaned by the Indian Museum , on Chowringhee. Its activities then comprised an
exhibition held yearly. It was held in the spacious verandah of the first floor of the
museum.
In the fifties , at the invitation of the then Prime Minister, Sri Jawaharlal Nehru, Yehudi
Menuhin, the celebrated violinist , visited India . The concert was held at the New
Empire Theatre, Calcutta.
During the interval there was a discussion between Sri Nehru and Dr. Bidhan
Chandra Roy. It was felt that there should be an art gallery in an important city like
Calcutta , to enable us to show our contemporary paintings and sculptures etc. to
distinguished visitors . The existing Academy of Fine Arts was a small society ,
holding an annual exhibition only , in a borrowed hall. Dr. Roy asked Lady Ranu
Mookerjee to choose some centrally situated land for the purpose.
The very next day , Dr. Roy sent his Home Secretary and Police Comm
-issioner with Lady Mookerjee to go round the Maidan area to choose a
suitable site . Lady Ranu Chose the Academy's present site . There was no
building on Cathedral Road at that time except St. Paul's Cathedral. The reason she
chose the spot was, because it was quiet and had a long water frontage on Birji tank,
and she felt artists could sketch, paint and sculpt in sylvan surroundings. It should be
mentioned here that in the fifties and early sixties, Cathedral Road used to be a quiet
place place for walks and for wandering about . Even buses were not allowed to ply
there.
Eventually, after going through the usual government formalities, the trustees of the
Academy built the premises of the Academy during 1959-60 with funds donated by
the Chairman of the Academy's Board of Trustees . Since then the Academy has
steadily grown. It buzzes with life, with multifarious activities. |
