Prokash Karmakar was a prominent Indian expressionist painter born in Calcutta in 1933. Growing up in an artistic household managed by his father, a well-known artist-teacher, his early life was suddenly upended by family tragedy, poverty, and the chaos of the 1943 Bengal Famine and wartime riots. These intense, traumatic childhood struggles deeply shaped his later creative vision.

Driven by a passion for art, Karmakar briefly attended the Government College of Art & Craft and later refined his watercolor and oil techniques under mentors like Kamalaranjan Thakur and Dilip Dasgupta. However, it was artist Nirode Mazumdar who truly transformed his work, teaching him how to break down traditional forms and think deeply about visual philosophy.