In 1954 he was awarded the Governor's Prize and the silver medal for water colors at the Bombay Art Society Annual Exhibition.

[2] In 1952, Samant joined the Progressive Artists' Group[3] and exhibited with them in several shows, including the 1953 exhibition, Progressive Artists' Group: Gaitonde, Raiba, Ara, Hazarnis, Khanna, Husain, Samant, Gade, at the Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai.

"[5] Samant did not mention the Bombay Group in interviews or recorded conversations, but a review from The Times of India[6] confirms that he had works in their November 1956 exhibition.

That same year, he took part in the seminal exhibition, Eight Painters: Bendre, Gaitonde, Gujral, Husain, Khanna, Kulkarni, Kumar, Samant, curated by Thomas Keehn, and in the Venice Biennale.

[10] The organizers of the legendary Dunn exhibition in 1963—whose international selection committee included Alfred Barr of The Museum of Modern Art, New York and Sir Anthony Blunt, Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures—chose works by Edward Hopper, Robert Rauschenberg and Willem de Kooning, among other giants of contemporary art.

While some of his processes and forms can be perceived on a regular basis over long periods of time, there was no hewing to a given image, endlessly repeated."

He stated that "I find that stagnation in style and the search for the same forms cause an artist to suffer an immense amount of laboriousness in his work.

"[15] In 1971, Samant married Jillian Saunders (born Australia), a performer on the viola da gamba and recorder.

[16] From his first showing until 1953, Samant took part in exhibitions around the world, held in galleries and museums in Canada, the United States, England, India and Japan.