Born in Jhelum in 1925 in pre-partition West Punjab, Satish Gujral is known internationally for his creativity that runs through painting, graphics, mural, sculpture, architecture and interior design. In 1939 he joined the Mayo School of Art in Lahore to study Applied Arts. Satish Gujral joined Sir J. J. School of Art in Bombay in 1944 to study painting. In 1952 he left for Mexico on a scholarship for an apprenticeship with Diego Rivera (1886-1957) and David Sequeiros (1898-1974). Partition of India had immense impression on Gujral and most of his paintings reflected those sad moments. Gujral has many projects to his credit. To name a few, he executed murals for World Trade Fair, New York (1963), The Palace of the Sultan of Muscat (1975), Delhi High Court (1976), Gandhi Institute, Mauritius (1977) and World Trade Centre, New York (1980).
Honours and recognition he won in plenty since the beginning of his career: The national Award for Painting (1956, ’57), National Award for Sculpture of (1972), State Honour from the Government of Punjab (1979), and the Order of the Crown, Belgium, for Architecture (1983). His name is included in the "International Dictionary of Art" published by Macmillan, U.K, the dictionary is of World Art through the Ages and included only 40,000 names. He is also honoured by both Delhi and Punjab State as well as Shanti Niketan with its highest honour "Desikottama". He was honoured by Mexico's International Award for "Life Time Achievements" (Da Vinci Award). Six books of his works have been published. Plus an autobiography "A Brush With Life". Several films have been made documenting his work and life. In recognition of his achievements, "Delhi Citizen Council" in 1989 honoured him as one of the twenty five most prominent of its Citizens. It is in recognition of these achievements that the President of India honoured Satish Gujral in the year 1999 with "Padma Vibhushan", the second highest honour awarded by the State. Gujral one of the pioneers of Contemporary Indian Art in post independence phase works and lives in New Delhi. His experiments cover almost all spheres that fall under the umbrella of Plastic Art, Graphics, Paintings, Sculpture Murals, Object Design and Architecture.