Baren Basu was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1943. He moved to India after the partition of the country and graduated from the Government College of Art & Craft, Calcutta in 1967.

A recipient of the Special Scholarship from the Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta in 1970, he also received the National Cultural Scholarship in painting from his alma mater in 1972-73. He has participated in numerous solo and group shows and has won many awards including from the Lalitkala Akademy, New Delhi besides receiving the Man of the Year - USA – ABI in 1997.