Krishnaji Howlaji Ara

'Still life as a genre of painting in India was to come into its own with Krishnaji Howlaji Ara. While artists like Souza and Raza had made forays into this form, it was only with Ara that there was a consistent preoccupation with its meter and substance. The most intuitive of the modernists, he, at the same time, used classical devices to extend the language of paint. Ara's ceaseless experiments with bowls, fruits and vases with flowers were to develop a compositional syntax to which he lent a rugged buoyancy and an unremitting compassion. His singular achievement lay in coalescing these elements into a distinctive style, which made quite an impact on the period.' 

(Y. Dalmia, 'The Stillness of Life, Krishnaji Howlaji Ara', The Making of Modern Indian Art¸ Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2001, p. 129)