Dhoomimal Art Gallery or DMG was spearheaded by Shri Ram Babu Jain in 1936. A patron of paintings and publishing, the art gallery is one of the oldest contemporary art galleries in Delhi.
Ram Babu operated a successful printing and stationery shop in Chawri Bazaar. By 1936, he had expanded, birthing the Dhoomimal Art Gallery Connaught Place. The art gallery is credited for developing modernism in 1940s India.
As soon as it began, a club called ‘Kalakar’ was formed. It served as a haven where art connoisseurs, critics, and artists could gather and ideate.
By the 1960s, Dhoomimal Art Gallery’s name became synonymous with excellence. Indian and foreign dignitaries had caught wind of this and could not resist appreciating their curations.
The late 1970s were perhaps Dhoomimal Art Gallery’s golden years. Their landmark 1976 show on FN Souza brought former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as a guest.
In 1984, the gallery organised ‘Souza of the 40’s,’ a show which decades later is still the most-talked-about show in art circles.
Uma Jain set up the ‘Ravi Jain Memorial Foundation.’ The foundation encouraged upcoming artists to showcase their creations at the gallery. It is often called the Dhoomimal Art Gallery scholarship