They have witnessed momentous events like war, famine and the rise and fall of governments and been party to smaller ones like homelessness and gender inequality.
And they have captured them all on canvas.
The collective is one of India's longest-running and most successful art groups.
Set up in 1964 to 'introduce experimental painting' to the Indian art scene, it was originally called Calcutta 8 to reflect the fact that there were eight founding members including Bijan Choudhury and the late artist Nikhil Biswas.
After 43 annual exhibitions in its home country, the group is holding its first exhibition abroad at Artmosaic Gallery from today to Dec 22.
It features more than 40 works by established artists like Choudhury and Amitabh SenGupta.
Choudhury, 77, recalls the heady days of the 1960s: 'We wanted to showcase our paintings not only in Calcutta but also the whole of India.'
Former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi 'came personally to one exhibition and told the National Gallery to buy some of our paintings', he recalls.
Isha Mahammad, 75, who joined Calcutta Painters in 1970, says with a laugh: 'We had a meeting earlier this year as we're all getting old. We've brought in a few young artists who will continue to light a candle for posterity.'
Late Indian art critic Samir Dasgupta wrote in an essay titled Reinterpreting Modernism for the group's 2007 exhibition catalogue that the Calcutta Painters 'have developed their own unique idioms and, despite the fact that many of them had been trained abroad, their dependence on Western ideas has ebbed... without being prejudiced against adapting ideas from abroad'.
Choudhury explains: 'We have no manifesto. Every artist in the group works within his own style and ideas. My belief is that we take ideas from international art movements to derive our personal and national identity in our work.'
Mahammad says the group, though diverse in styles and themes, is bound by its constant experimentation in form and engagement with local or social issues.
He says: 'The standard of beauty may be a peacock but you can't ignore the crow.'
Calcutta Painters is on at Artmosaic Gallery at 01-02 Mica Building, 140 Hill Street, till Dec 22. Opening hours are 11am to 5pm daily. Admission is free.
