J. Sultan Ali was born in Mumbai in 1920. From 1939 to 1945 he received his Diploma in Painting, Government College of Arts and Crafts (GCAC), Chennai. In 1946 he was under the Government of Madras Scholarship to study Textile Designing at Government Textile Institute (GTI), Chennai. In 1947 he got his Diploma in Photography, Lingham’s Institute of Photography (LIP), Chennai.

 

Ali joined the Progressive Painter’s Association in Madras in 1954. He taught for a year in the Fine Art department at the Government College of Art in Madras and then went on to teach at the Rishi Valley School in Madanapalli for six years.

 

From 1946 to 1990, he had several solo shows in Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, USA and UK.

 

From 1956 to 1989, he participated in several groups shows in West Germany, New Delhi, UK and Kolkata.

 

He was honoured with the Lalit Kala Akademi National Award in 1966 and 1978.

 

Sultan Ali passed away in 1990.

 

Ali was posthumously exhibited in several exhibitions in 1997, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2011 and 2013 in New Delhi.