Born in 1949 Tilak Gitai hails from the second generation of royal court painter patronized by the rulers of Bikaner. He has done his B.F.A. from the University of Delhi. He specializes in Indian traditional Miniature paintings like Mughal, Rajasthani and Phadi paintings etc. He is also an all round Master Craftsman.

He has demonstrated cum exhibited his paintings in the prestigious “Festival of India” held at Augsburg Germany in1985, at Geneva-Zurich and Basel-Switzerland in 1987, at Earls Court-London in 2001, at Seoul-South Korea in 2004, at Muscat Festival-Oman in 2007 and at Sao Paulo-Brazil in 2012.

He makes paintings on different surfaces like old handmade paper, fine silk and wall Murals etc. and also restores the old miniature paintings. He makes his own colors from precious, semi-precious stones, minerals and herbs. Real gold and silver colors are made from gold and silver leaf. He also makes his own brushes from squirrel’s hairs. He even trained around 2520 students the art and techniques of Indian Miniature Painting around the globe between 1981-2013

During his illustrious career he got many prizes and awards for his originality and artistic brilliance like:

• National Award from the President of India – 1982

• Rajasthan Shiromani Award – 1991

• Kalamani Award –Suraj Kund-1991

• Maharana Sajjan Singh Award, Mewar Foundation Udaipur – 1992

• India’s Independence Golden Jubilee Award – 1997

• Federation of Rajasthan Handicrafts Exporters Award – 2007

• Shilp Guru Award from the President of India – 2007

• Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award – 2008

• Rajasthan Gaurav – 2009

• Padma Shri Award from President of India - 2017