Tyeb Mehta was born in 1925 in Kapadvanj, Gujarat. He studied at the J.J. School of Art, Bombay. In 1959, he left for London where he lived and painted for six years. In 1968, he travelled to U.S.A. on a Rockefeller Fellowship. In addition to numerous one man shows, he has participated in major international exhibitions including "Art Now in India", Arts Council of Great Britain (1965). "India: myth and reality" Museum of Modern Art, Oxford (1982). "Contemporary Indian Art", Royal Academy of Arts, London (1982), "Modem Indian Painting" Hirschhom Museum, Washington D.C. (1982) and "Coups de Coeur" , Halle de L'lle , Geneva (1987). His work has been presented at the Menton Biennale and at the Festival Internationale de La Peinture, Cagnes-sur-Mer (1974) where it won the Prix Nationale. He returned to India in 1966 and regularly exhibited with the Kumar Gallery, New Delhi.