Chandra man singh maskey was born on April 3, 1900. His birthplace is in Kathmandu in a Newa family. His family traditionally served as officials in the government but he chose art as a career. He is a popular Nepalese artist who has occupied a prominent place in the field of Nepalese art and one of the leaders in the development of contemporary art in Nepal in the early 20th century. He is among the first two officially recognized art teachers in Nepal and other was Tej Bahadur Chitrakar (1898-1971). He taught art at Durbar High School (infront of Rani pokhar) and Padma Kanya Girls High School (Bagbazar, Kathmandu).
He achieved excellence in the study of arts through his training abroad from 1918 to 1923 at the Government School of Art, Kolkata. He is one of the first Nepali citizen who got oppurtunity to study modern art academically abroad. Those days during Rana regime people were not allowed to get modern education. After completing his training he returning to Kathmandu and in the year 1928, he held the first ever one-man exhibition in Nepal. He had also exhibited his works in abroad.
He was convicted of drawing an anti-Rana cartoon in 1940 for which he was sentenced to 18 years prison. His property was confiscated and later. He was released in 1945 (after five years) and two years later , he resumed his teaching profession. Again, he joined at Padma Kanya Girls High School as an art teacher. He also opened University of Kathmandu in 1957 whith his friends which was shut down after six months of opening.
His works consist of oils, water colors, pencil, pen, ink drawings and in addition to painting, he had speciality in artistic design of different architectural works in stone and molded sculpture. In course of pursuing his career in art, Maskey had assumed different responsibilities in the service of his Majesty’s Government of Nepal. He also worked as the director of Department of Culture and Archaeology, Nepal National Museum and National Zoo. He was also appointed as an adviser to the Nepal Association of Fine Arts (NAFA).In recognition of his great contribution, he was decorated with Gorkha Dakshin Bahu and Indra Rajya Laxmi Puraskar. He died on July 28, 1984. He has worked for the development of art in Nepal and the Postal Services Department of Nepal issued a commemorative postage stamp depicting a portrait of Chandra Man Singh Maskey to honor his contribution in 1995.