Somnath Hore was born in 1921 in the village of Barama in Chittagong, now in Bangladesh. At a very early age, Hore started making posters for the Communist Party. It was at the instance of the party leader P C Joshi that Hore was admitted to the Government College of Art & Craft.

From 1954 onwards, Hore started experimenting significantly with the printmaking process. A lifetime of inventive experiments with etching, intaglio and lithographs culminated in the abstract while on while Wounds series in 1971. Dramatized with a spot of red, the white on white prints reflected the political turbulence of the times. Prints were taken with paper pulp pressed on molded cement matrices. The moulds were made from originals done in clay. Hore began doing bronze sculptures from 1974 onwards. One of his largest sculptures Mother with Child that paid homage to the spirit of the people's struggle in Vietnam was stolen from the Kala Bhavan soon after it was finished and disappeared without a trace.