London-based artist Raghav Babbar has been drawing for as long as he can remember, following the light of his tremendous calling into a pure devotion to the timeless art of portraiture. Honing his craft at LASALLE College of Art in Singapore as well as the Royal College of Art in London, Babbar’s creative heart lies in illuminating the subtleties of the human visage through the transformative power of figurative painting. Uplifted by his birthplace—India, his forever home—brimming with rich spirit, character, and family influences, as well as by his newer haven of radiant London, the visionary drives forward in his destined path with endless observation, reflection, and experimentation. Babbar has showcased his poetic works in an array of presentations at illustrious art spaces such as Institute of Contemporary Art, Singapore; Art Basel Hong Kong, alongside Helly Nahmad Gallery, Hong Kong; ART SG 2024, Singapore; and Larsen Warner Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden.
Whitewall spoke with the ever-evolving artist about his admiration for masters like Lucian Freud and Claude Monet, his pivotal show at the esteemed gallery Nature Morte in his home country, and how he brings the hard-earned enlightenment of an artist’s life back to India.
Raghav Babbar, photo by Dan Weill.
Raghav Babbar, “Dai ma,” 2023, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 inches, courtesy of the artist and Nahmad Projects.
WHITEWALL: Can you share a first, vivid memory that led you to becoming a visual artist?
RAGHAV BABBAR: I think it was when I failed my fifth standard. Like most people, you’d think I would focus on studies more, and want to get better at academics. But instead, I focused on drawing. The reason why I failed that class was because I’d spend my time just drawing—all day long, in every class, even sometimes on the exam sheets. I didn’t mean it in a harmful way; it was just a spontaneous picking up of a pencil. This hasn’t changed, to this day. It was very natural for me to get into art—I never planned to become a great artist. I liked being good at something different from my classmates, and slowly, that became my passion. Now it’s something greater—it’s my need.
“It was very natural for me to get into art,”
Raghav Babbar
WW: You were born in Rohtak, near Delhi. How did the environment you grew up in, and the family, neighbors, or friends you were surrounded by, impact your creative vision?
RB: I grew up in a very business-minded family. We are four generations of businesspeople. I have always seen my father and my grandfather at work, and I’ve heard about how hard-working my great grandfather was, too. They started from nothing. My great grandfather came from Pakistan in 1947 with my grandfather having close to no money. Knowing that’s where my family started from, and that I’m now able to be living my dreams, is sometimes hard to process. There is like a lot of sacrifice that has gone into making it happen. Once you see people around you who have put everything into their family and business, you want to carry forward that legacy in your own work.
I think you just need that one person in your life to give you a push and make you believe that you can do something or be good at it, and for me, it was my grandfather. He was one of the most encouraging people to me. He pushed me to do what I liked, and be happy with what I chose to do. He used to call me and ask me, “Do you need money for your art materials?” He never put his ambitions onto me or hoped that I would grow his business or become a doctor or an engineer. He just wanted me to be happy and healthy.
Raghav Babbar’s Unique Artistic Practice
Raghav Babbar, “That painter from India,” 2023, courtesy of the artist and Nahmad Projects.
WW: You have honed a unique artistic practice which honors your Indian heritage as well as draws from mid-20th century British art techniques. How did you develop this?
RB: I graduated high school and went to LASALLE College of Arts in Singapore. I used to ask myself a lot about what kind of artist I wanted to be. I knew what I liked to paint and how, but I was waiting to see something to make me believe that the way I paint could carry it forward and make it happen. It took me a while to get there because, in school, there was not that much guidance; I didn’t have that kind of a circle of creative people around me or exposure to art galleries and museums. In 2019, I went to London for the first time and specifically wanted to go to the Royal Academy of Arts because one of my professors in college told me that my work resembled Freud’s work. I didn’t really know much about him or studied Lucian Freud at that point.
“I used to ask myself a lot about what kind of artist I wanted to be,”
Raghav Babbar
But as I was going to London, luckily, his self-portrait solo show was happening at the RA. I was so overwhelmed by that show that I went twice in a few days. I stayed as long as I could. I made a drawing of his self-portrait sitting there. It was like I found light at the end of a tunnel, showing there were possibilities for me and my art. This was enough of a drive for me to understand what kind of artist I wanted to be. Validation, I believe, is one of the best forms of motivation. If you know someone has done it before, it encourages you to go further into that practice and hopefully reach the next step.
WW: Your portraits concentrate on working class individuals, many of whom are featured in the radiance of sunlight, with meticulous attention to the placement of shadows. What is your process like, working with light and dark, color and lack thereof, to create these striking, cinematic works?
RB: As I came to London, I started missing India more and realized that I want to show and share more of this side of the world. It’s my home, my culture—it’s important to me. Of course, the sitters that I am painting, the friends that I have made, or the people that I meet in London represent a very different side of work, one that I believe exists in my practice. But the working class, the people that I see around me in India, and the environment that I grew up in, it’s a separate category. It’s more emotionally charged. We can also put me as being the director, and those are the actors playing a role in my film in India, where everything around me is set and they are just doing what they’re doing on a regular basis. It’s beautiful to see things happening in their own way. Simplicity makes me really understand how life can be celebrated.
“I started missing India more and realized that I want to show and share more of this side of the world,”
Raghav Babbar
My mother took me to the market, and I had this feeling that I kind of know these people because you kind of see them every day—you pass by them, but you just don’t speak to them. But somehow, you are a part of their life, and they are a part of your life. I never feel lonely in India, even if I am walking down the road and I don’t know anyone. But it has so much character, innocence, and liveliness. When I go to India and see people there, people even enjoy just sitting and not doing anything. That is very rare to see in the West.
Another reason for me to paint common working-class people is I got really inspired by Satyajit Ray’s movie, where he uses people from the local place where he is shooting. These are just normal people, but the way they are so professional—even more than some trained actors. That’s how a true creative person works—using things around them and creating something out of it. Genuineness and honesty, with which you paint what you see, what’s in front of you—you can do wonders with it. Because what I see from my eyes and believe will be different from the other person. That’s what artists in older times have done. They just painted things around themselves, which created a body of works which we all admire and get inspired by now.
WW: Are there any upcoming endeavors you would like to share with us?
RB: All my focus is on the solo show that is happening in India with Nature Morte around autumn. It’s a very different type of exhibition that I have never tried—just depicting my love for portraiture. I always wanted to show in my home country and to the people that I’ve grown up with. My family and friends have never seen my work in public and also show what I have been doing for the past decade outside India. It’s the chance for me to bring my work and the things that I’ve learned in London and Singapore to India. Let people see that boy from that small town called Rohtak, who can also be a painter and make his life with his craft.
Raghav Babbar, “Fields are his gold,” 2023, courtesy of the artist and Nahmad Projects.
