Shreyas Navare: Indian-origin cartoonist behind White House Historical Association’s America250 collection

(Jul 4, 2026) As fireworks light up the skies across the United States this 4 July to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary of independence, visitors walking into White House gift shops are finding presidential watercolour caricatures by New York-based Indian-origin artist Shreyas Nevare who hails from Mumbai.

On the eve of America’s Independence Day celebrations, the White House Historical Association announced a new retail collection featuring original presidential caricatures by Shreyas Navare, describing him as “a commemorative artist of America250,” the congressionally mandated, non-partisan initiative leading nationwide commemorations of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The collection is drawn from Navare’s original watercolour series portraying all 47 U.S. presidents and offers the first public glimpse of his forthcoming coffee-table book, HAIL TO THE CHIEFS! Celebrating America at 250: Presidential Caricatures in Watercolor. The book features a foreword by Stewart D. McLaurin, President of the White House Historical Association, who writes that as the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, Americans have “both an invitation and an obligation: to look back across the full sweep of the American presidency with clear eyes and open minds.”

Cover Image of Shreyas Nevare’s Coffee Table Book

Shreyas, meanwhile, says, “Every presidency has contributed a chapter to the American story. My goal was to portray each president with equal artistic respect and historical dignity, inviting people to reflect on shared history as the nation marks its 250th anniversary,” according to the Association’s press release.

The White House Historical Association’s announcement places the cartoonist’s work among the official cultural initiatives commemorating one of the most significant milestones in American history. For an Indian-origin cartoonist to become part of those celebrations is remarkable in itself. Apart from  museum-quality matted print, the collection also includes ”greeting card, brass bookmark, and framed magnet.” 

An Indian-origin artist at the heart of America’s celebrations

The White House collection is only the latest chapter in a journey that began not in Washington or New York, but in Mumbai, where an engineering graduate chose political cartooning over a conventional corporate career. Nearly two decades later, his work forms part of the permanent collection of the Library of Congress—the United States’ national library, and is helping tell the story of the American presidency through an unmistakably Indian artistic lens.

Every year, Indians make their mark across the world as entrepreneurs, scientists, doctors and academics. Far fewer do so through political satire. Shreyas Navare belongs to that smaller group. Nearly twelve years after leaving banking to pursue cartooning, his portraits of American presidents are helping tell the story of the United States as it celebrates one of the biggest milestones in its history.

Shreyas_Navare at Morristown, NJ during one of the Hail To The Chiefs! exhibitions in 2025

Choosing the drawing board over the boardroom

The journey began not in Washington, but in Mumbai. Shreyas studied at Smt. Sulochanadevi Singhania School before earning a Bachelor of Engineering in Information Technology from Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI), Mumbai University. He later completed a Master of Management at the Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay.

His education pointed towards a conventional corporate career. After completing engineering and management studies, he began working in banking, trading spreadsheets and financial targets in addition to sketchbooks and ink. But the pull of political cartooning proved stronger. Choosing the uncertainty of journalism over the security of finance, he embarked on a path that would eventually take him from Mumbai’s newsrooms to some of America’s most respected cultural institutions.

Finding a political voice 

In 2007, Navare joined the Hindustan Times as editorial cartoonist, beginning what would become more than a decade with one of India’s leading English-language newspapers. Until March 2018, he chronicled Indian and international politics through cartoons while also developing a keen interest in American elections and public life—subjects that would later define some of his most ambitious work.

Those years helped shape his distinctive style: playful without being partisan, sharply observant without being cynical. Among his best-known creations was Zero, a witty donkey character who became the voice of his satirical take on politics and current affairs.

His work soon reached beyond the daily editorial page. In 2013, HarperCollins India published The Politickle Pickle, a collection centred on Zero that carried a foreword by former President Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. A second volume, Politickle Pickle 2: Battle of the Ballot, followed, further cementing Navare’s reputation as one of India’s leading political cartoonists. His growing fascination with American politics would soon shape the next chapter of his journey. 

Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam at the cartoon exhibition of Shreyas Navare at Bengaluru in 2010  | Photo Credit: Shreyas Nevare

A Harvard fellowship that broadened his horizons

In 2014, Shreyas Navare stepped away from the relentless pace of the newsroom to become a Fellow at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, one of the world’s leading centres for the study of global politics and public policy.

The fellowship offered something political cartoonists rarely enjoy. It provided him time to step back from the daily news cycle. The cartoonist immersed himself in understanding the ideas, personalities and events that shape politics.

Writing about his creative process in a profile for the Weatherhead Center, he observed that “the cartoonist’s hunt for an idea is not unlike a cat and mouse game,” describing how he sifted through news reports, opinion pieces and public conversations before distilling complex issues into a single image. The experience strengthened a skill that would come to define much of his later work: making complex political ideas accessible through art.

His time at Harvard also reflected interests beyond cartooning. He co-chaired the 2016 pan-Harvard LGBTQ Conference, demonstrating a broader commitment to dialogue and community engagement.

The fellowship marked an important turning point. It exposed Navare to an international academic environment while deepening his understanding of global affairs, preparing him for a career that would increasingly bridge India and the United States.

From Mumbai’s newsroom to New York’s creative scene

Shreyas Navare eventually made New York City his professional home. But rather than leaving cartooning behind, he expanded what it could become.

In 2015, he founded LÉGENDE, a creative venture through which he produces and showcases original artwork, fine art prints and caricatures. It would later become the platform for projects such as HAIL TO THE CHIEFS!, bringing together his long-standing fascination with political leadership and his love of watercolour.

His reputation continued to grow internationally. His cartoons and caricatures have been exhibited in India and abroad, while his original artworks entered the permanent collection of the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. 

Shreyas Navare at one of his cartoon exhibitions in the US

Making entrepreneurship accessible to children

Alongside his artistic work, Shreyas Navare also embraced entrepreneurship. In 2018, he co-founded Ladderworks, a New York-based publishing company that transforms the stories of real entrepreneurs into illustrated books for children.

The venture grew naturally from his years as a political cartoonist, where simplifying complex issues into engaging visual stories had long been central to his work. Collaborating with organisations including the World Bank Youth Summit and Nasdaq, Ladderworks encourages curiosity, resilience and problem-solving while introducing young readers to global challenges through storytelling.

Before long, Shreyas found himself returning to the subject that had fascinated him throughout his career—the American presidency. Nearly twelve years after leaving banking to follow his passion, he was about to embark on the most ambitious artistic project of his career.

Drawing America through an Indian lens

Long before the White House collaboration, Navare had been exploring American politics through his art. In 2012 and 2016, he covered the US Presidential elections through the eyes of a cartoonist on behalf of the Hindustan Times. In 2022, he presented America in Cartoons: From Bill to Biden at Bengaluru’s Indian Institute of Cartoonists. Featuring around 100 cartoons spanning the presidencies of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the exhibition introduced Indian audiences to American politics through humour and caricature.

More importantly, it revealed that Navare’s fascination with the American presidency had evolved into a far larger artistic project.

Shreya Nevare with American broadcast journalist and political commentator Anderson Cooper

HAIL TO THE CHIEFS!

As the United States prepared to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Shreyas Navare embarked on his most ambitious work yet: HAIL TO THE CHIEFS!, a collection of original watercolour caricatures portraying all 47 U.S. presidents, from George Washington to the present day.

Named after the ceremonial tune played to announce the arrival of the U.S. president, the project pairs every portrait with a significant presidential quotation, inviting viewers to reflect on more than two centuries of American leadership through a non-partisan artistic lens. The caricaturist was quoted in the White House Historical Association’s announcement:

Every presidency has contributed a chapter to the American story, My goal was to portray each president with equal artistic respect and historical dignity, inviting people to reflect on shared history as the nation marks its 250th anniversary.

Shreyas Nevare

Years of historical research went into the series, from studying presidential portraits to period details, resulting in a body of work that combines humour, history and meticulous craftsmanship. The project soon received official recognition.

One of the exhibitions of the Hail To The Chiefs! project by Shreyas Nevare

A global Indian story still being drawn

Stories of Indians making their mark abroad often unfold in laboratories, boardrooms, universities or technology companies. Shreyas Navare’s journey followed a different path.

From the editorial pages of Hindustan Times to a fellowship at Harvard University, from publishing political cartoons in India to building children’s books in New York, each chapter prepared him for a project few could have imagined when he first left a career in banking to pursue cartooning.

Today, his original artworks are part of the permanent collection of the Library of Congress, while his portraits of American presidents are helping commemorate one of the most significant milestones in U.S. history.

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