Born in Kolkata in 1940, Bikash Bhattacharjee lost his father at a very early age. In 1963, he graduated from Indian College of Art and Draftsmanship. He joined the same college as professor in 1968. From 1973, Bhattacharjee began teaching at the Government College of Arts and Crafts and taught there till 1982. Bhattacharjee drew inspiration for his work from his early dreary days His subject is always clear, recognizable, painted with faithfulness to detail and invested with a sense of the dramatic. Female beauty is a major preoccupation with him. The ability to create an authentic milieu as a background to the characters heightens the drama.
He works with many mediums – oil on canvas, tempera, oil on board, pastels on board, watercolor, crayon and pencil. The artist lives in Kolkata. A recent illness left his right side paralyzed as a result of which he no longer paints.