"The souls of a landscape, the spirits of the elements, the genius of every place will be revealed through my works."

U.P. Rao, the Udipi born artist, received his training from renowned artist M.V. Dhurandhar, and trained at J.J. School of Art. His works were admired by Late H.H. Maharaja Sayajirao, and was appointed at Baroda to head the Kalabhavan in 1931. In 1950 he was transferred to the Faculty of Fine Arts, along with N.B. Joglekar, G.U. Patel, N.J. Mehta, H.R. Patel, and B.N. Pancholi.

He portrayed brilliance and expertise in watercolor paintings which he demonstrated to his students. Within the limits of realism, he shows mastery in handling watercolor and bringing to life a scene of its true reflections. He painted both street and country settings. Some of his landscapes serve as records of locations that have undergone natural disaster. Instead of accurately representing a location, he managed to capture its soul and atmosphere. He left more than a hundred watercolors behind.

He received appreciation for his medals and awards. He won the prestigious ‘Dolly Cursetji’ prize for Mural Decoration in 1924. He has also secured the ‘Lord Mayo Medal’ for merit and Bombay Governor’s Medal for Mural decoration at J.J. School. He received medals at the Fine art society award in Shimla and Madras. He was a life member at Bombay Art Society. He has done solo exhibitions at Jehangir art Gallery in 1955, Taj Art gallery 1982 and others at Dasara Exhibitions, Mysore, Kathmandu, Nepal, Pune, Delhi, Lahore and Calcutta.