Dr. M S Murthy was born in 1960 at Bangalore. He has a Diploma in Fine Arts & Modelling in 1982. He has held 25 solo exhibitions all over India. Has participated in State, National and International exhibitions. In 2003 he won The International Biennial Award from the Iran Academy of Arts, 2006 he won the Karnataka Sahithya Academy Award for his essay collection Desi Nagu. In 2010 Government of Karnataka honoured him with Rajyotsava Award for his achievement in the field of art. He was the Chief of Academic Council at Jain College of Visual Arts, Bangalore. His works are with National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, Featherlite Pvt. Ltd, Namdhari Seeds, Caterpillar Inc. Bangalore, CICOPA, Bangalore, Alliance Francaise, Bangalore, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Kejriwal Art Gallery, Bangalore, ArtsAcre Foundation, International Centre for Creativity and Cultural Vision, Kolkata, State, National Academies and many private collections in India and abroad.

In 1986 he held his first solo exhibition on Art and Literature in Chitrakala Parishath, Bengaluru. His works have been exhibited at Rabindra Kala Kunj Art Gallery (1994), Y.B. Chavan Gallery (1994), Grindlays Bank (1994), Chitrakala Parishath (2000 and 2010), KYNKYNY Art Gallery (2011), Venkatappa Art Gallery (1978), Alliance Francaise (1995, Sumukha Gallery (1997), Crimson Art Resources (1994), Time & Space Gallery (1995 and 2008), Lakshana Art Gallery (2004), Jehangir Art Gallery (1997 & 2012), K.C.Das (1995), Harmony by Reliance Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai (1994), Iran Academy of Arts-Iran (2003), Tamarind Art, New York (1995). In 2018 he exhibited his latest works titled The Bowl at Gallery Manora, Bangalore. Exhibited in Fusion Art Festival Home at the Crossroads. An event is part of the Cultural Calendar of Veliko Tarnovo Municipality at Rafael Mihailov Gallary, Veliko Tarnovo in 2020.

He has presented papers at art seminars, curated art shows, has also been jury member for various State and National Art exhibitions and is currently conducting art workshop - Kalasanskar at his studio Bhoomi - The Centre For Artists, Bangalore. He has received a Doctorate, D-Litt Award from the Hampi University for his research on Pictures of Child Mind in 2010. His first play in Kannada Yashodhare Malagiralilla, based on Buddha’s Philosophy – 2007, was adjudged the Best Regional Play by AIR, Bangalore. Recently he published Drushya - World’s First Visual Novel, which won the Best Book of the Year Award Pustaka Sogasu from the Kannada Book Authority, Government of Karnataka. In 2016 he published his sixth book, Nijada Neralu a collection of essays. Department of Information and Public Relations, Govt. of Karnataka Published Mahatma Gandhi a collection of drawings, in 2016. He was awarded the Mysuru Kala Gowrava Prashasti in 2016. Halabhavi National Trust Award, Halabhavi Rashtriya Prashasti in 2016. He was the Academic Council Member for University of Folklore, Karnataka.

Dr. M S Murthy has served as the Chairman of Karnataka Lalithkala Academy, from 2015-2017. In 2017 Government of Karnataka Awarded the lifetime achievement Award Varnashilpi Venkatappa Prashasti.