Born in Varanasi in 1956, Santosh K. Verma holds an MFA from the Faculty of Visual Arts, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. He won the National Academy Award of Lalit Kala Akademi in 2001, and was awarded the Senior Fellowship by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India in 2003. He is also a winner of the AIFACS Award, (2000 and 2001), Sahitya Kala Parishad Award (1994) and Bharat Bhawan Award (1992). He has held eight solo exhibitions in Delhi, Mumbai and Baroda and participated in international exhibitions in Syria (Iraq), Korea and Sri Lanka. In a career spanning more than three-and-a-half decades, he has successfully participated in several exhibitions across the country that include the Annual National Exhibition, Sahitya Kala Parishad, Lalit Kala Akademi Golden Jubilee Celebrations, 2004, Bharat Bhawan, Bhopal, AIFACS, Delhi, and many more. His works are part of the collections of the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, Lalit Kala Akademi, Museum of Fine Arts, Bharat Bhawan, Bhopal, Sahitya Kala Parishad and several other institutions in India and abroad.

Santosh grew up in the countryside on Varanasi, a land rich in ancient beliefs, customs and traditions. Icons from the myths were depicted in lines and in abstract forms. In his paintings these childhood memories come alive through the addition of light and shade, volumes of colour and motifs overlapping each other till a new reality emerge.