Poet painter Ghulam Rasool Santosh was born in Kashmir and could pursue his education for only a short time before the family's financial hardships forced him to quit school and take up odd jobs of painting sign boards, weaving silk, worker in a paper machier factory, painting small takeaways for tourists, etc. to support his family. Saving from his meagre resources the artist continued to invest in paint and making landscapic artworks of the serenic Kashmir valley. He learnt to paint in watercolour from Dina Nath Raina and in 1952, he became a member of the Progressive Artists' Association founded by SH Raza for the prosperity of the artists in the valley.

His talent was recognised and he was awarded the scholarship to study Fine Arts under N. S. Bendre at the MS University, Baroda in 1954. The artist continued to paint landscapes through his stay in Baroda and also perfected the technique of painting portraits although the works were executed in the cubist style that the artist was influenced by. Santosh continued to produce landscapes and portraits, acquiring proficiency in the medium.

The turning point in the artist's life came in 1964 when he undertook a pilgrimage to Amarnath caves in Kashmir. For two years, Santosh took to the path of spirituality, reading scriptures on the ancient and powerful tantric tradition of Kashmir Shaivism. His style completely transformed post the spiritual introspection and he began to paint in the neo tantric style evoking the energies of the male and female forms. Tantric symbols involving circles, triangles, polygons became prominent in his artworks illuminated by the use of rich colours.

His contribution to popularising the tantric art is notable and he is considered as the leading exponent of Neo - tantric style of art. Santosh was also an acclaimed poet and writer in Kashmir in addition to being a celebrated artist. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1979 for his book of poems Besukh Ruh, besides receiving Padma Shri in 1977 and the Kalhana Award in 1985. He received national award for painting in 1958 for the first time and twice subsequently In 1973 he received the Lalit Kala Akademi Award and the Padma Shree (1977).

Gulam Rasool Santosh is the most important artist from the movement known as neo-tantra in Indian art. After a few years of painting figurative and abstract works in the mould of the other Indian Progressives, Santosh’s art changed dramatically towards tantra when he had a mystical experience in the Amarnath cave in 1964.

From then on, until his death in 1997, G. R. Santosh dedicated his life to the study and practice of tantra, a yogi as much as an artist.