Lain Singh Bangdel

Bangdel stayed in Europe until he was invited by the late King Mahendra to establish the modern art movement in Nepal in 1961.

He was elected to head the Royal Nepal Academy in 1972 and, during two terms, he dedicated himself to further research of Nepalese painting and art history.

2500 Years of Nepalese Art (German Edition, 1985 ), Stolen Images of Nepal (1989), Inventory of Stone Sculptures of the Kathmandu Valley (1991).

After his retirement from the Royal Nepal Academy, Bangdel engaged with renewed effort and success in his painting activities, and further documented the rich and unique art history of the Kathmandu Valley.

His extraordinary life has been documented in a book entitled 'Against the Current: The Life of Lain Singh Bangdel-Writer, Painter and Art Historian of Nepal', by Don Messerschmidt and Dina Bangdel (Bangkok: Orchid Press, 2004; ISBN 974-524-052-4).His biography by Narendra Raj Prasai is also available in Nepali and English translation(The Glory of Nepal).