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NATVAR BHAVSAR (b. 1934) is a renowned American contemporary artist, based in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City. His mesmerizing works draw inspiration from his childhood in Gujarat, India, where the dazzling colors of rangoli, the intricate textiles of his grandparents’ fabric printing business, and the vibrant energy of Holi left a lasting impression. “I believe color is based on physical elements. It has a real physical entity and an impact on our psyches. I brought color with me from India. Our religion is imbued with color; it is a part of our daily lives.” 

After moving to New York, Bhavsar was deeply influenced by the freedom of abstract painting, which allowed his style to evolve into abstract expressionism and color field painting. Among his New York contemporaries, including Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman, Bhavsar developed a distinct approach that blends vibrant color with meditative technique. His process involves delicately dispersing powdered pigments onto the canvas, guiding their placement through subtle air currents, controlled breath, and fluid body movements, resulting in rich, multi-layered compositions.

Bhavsar’s work was exhibited at the 2009 Venice Biennale, and he received his first retrospective at Sundaram Tagore Gallery in 2010. His soft yet striking Color Field paintings have been the subject of articles in Artforum, The New York Times, and News India Times, and were featured in the 2010 documentary film The Poetics of Color: Natvar Bhavsar, an Artist’s Journey. His works are in the collections of many major institutions, including Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.