Ira Chaudhuri (b. 1927)
Faculty of Fine Arts, Vadodara, 1992
Ira Chaudhuri was born in 1927 as the younger of two sisters to parents who were well known educationists spending their early career years in Visva Bharati, Santiniketan. The influence of both Rabindranath and Gandhian philosophy with its Nationalist ideology deeply inspired her parents. She returned to Visva- Bharati, Santiniketan in 1945 to study Art at Kala Bhavana where she met the sculptor Sankho Chaudhuri and later married him.
Chaudhuri moved with him to Vadodara in 1951 where Sankho was handed the charge of setting up the Sculpture Department in the newly formed Faculty of Fine Arts. Chaudhuri taught and held charge of the Pottery section at the Faculty of Fine Arts from 1963-64 making earthenware glazed functional pots, and experimented with the chemistry of making glazes to try out new possible combinations. In 1970 the Chaudhuris’ moved to Delhi. This marked the start to yet another breakthrough in the potter’s life. Garhi Studios (Lalit Kala Akademi) set up by Sankho Chaudhuri (1976) developed a most comprehensive facility for making ceramics, particularly high-temperature stoneware. She stays and works in Delhi.