Chintamoni Kar was born in Kharagpur, West Bengal in 1915. The Indian Society of Oriental Art, Calcutta, served as his alma mater. He studied sculpture at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere, Paris, in 1938. On his return to India, he was a teacher at the University of Calcutta. Later, he also taught at the Delhi Polytechnic. In 1946 he moved from India to London. He was elected member to the Royal Society of British Sculptors. He was elected Principal of the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Calcutta in 1956. He has held a large number of exhibitions in both India and abroad. He was awarded the Padma Bhusan by the Government of India in 1974.

The artist passed away in 2005.