Kalpathi Ganpathi "K.G." Subramanyan (1924 29 June 2016) was an Indian artist. He was awarded the

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without ...

in 2012.

Life

Subramanyan was born in

Tamil Brahmin Tamil Brahmins are an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins, predominantly living in Tamil Nadu, though they number significantly in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, in addition to other regions of India, as wel ...

family on 1924 in

Kuthuparamba Kuthuparamba is a town and a municipality in the Kannur district, state of Kerala, India. It is about 24 km south east of Kannur and 14 km east of Thalassery. History Kuthuparamba was part of Kottayam dynasty under the reign of P ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, India, and initially studied economics at

Presidency College, Madras Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a gra ...

. During the freedom struggle he was actively involved and was known for his

Gandhian The followers of Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest figure of the Indian independence movement, are called Gandhians. Gandhi's legacy includes a wide range of ideas ranging from his dream of ideal India (or ''Rama Rajya)'', economics, environmentalism, ...

ideology. He was even imprisoned and later banned from joining government colleges during the

British Rule The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was hims ...

. The turning point of his life, as an artist, came when he visited

Santiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...

to study in

Kala Bhavan Kala Bhavana (Institute of Fine Arts) is the fine arts faculty of Visva-Bharati University, in Shantiniketan, India. It is an institution of education and research in visual arts, founded in 1919, it was established by Nobel laureate Rabindran ...

, the art faculty of

Visva Bharati University Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the w ...

, in the year 1944. Under the tutelage of such pioneers of modern Indian art as Nandalal Bose,

Benode Behari Mukherjee Benode Behari Mukherjee (7 February 1904 – 11 November 1980) was an Indian artist from West Bengal state. Mukherjee was one of the pioneers of Indian modern art and a key figure of Contextual Modernism. He was one of the earliest artists in mod ...

and

Ramkinkar Baij Ramkinkar Baij ( bn, রামকিঙ্কর বেইজ) (25 May 1906 – 2 August 1980) was an Indian sculptor and painter, one of the pioneers of modern Indian sculpture and a key figure of Contextual Modernism. Early life and ...

, Subramanyan studied there till 1948. In 1951 he became a lecturer at the

Faculty of Fine Arts In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

in M.S. University in

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

. He went to study briefly in London at the

Slade School of Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

as a

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

scholar in 1956. While having already gone back to Baroda as a professor in painting and continuing there, he did a short stint in New York as a

Rockefeller Fellow The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

in 1966. In 1980, Subramanyan went back to Santiniketan to teach in his alma mater Kala Bhavan, Visva Bharati University, in his capacity as a professor in painting, which he continued till he retired in 1989. In the same year, he was made a Professor Emeritus of Visva Bharati. Subramanyan resided in

, with his daughter Uma, towards the later days of his life and it was here that he died on 29 June 2016.

Artistic styles and Influences

K.G. Subramanyan was greatly influenced by folk art from Kerala, Kalighat painting and Pattachitra from Bengal and Odisha, as well as Indian court paintings.

Retrospective show

There have been numerous retrospective shows of K.G. Subramanyan. ''K.G. Subramanyan, a Retrospective'' was the fourth and largest, curated by

R. Siva Kumar Raman Siva Kumar (born 3 December 1956), known as R. Siva Kumar, is an Indian contemporary art historian, art critic, and curator. His major research has been in the area of early Indian modernism with special focus on the Santiniketan Schoo ...

at the

National Gallery of Modern Art National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

Career

From 1951 to 59 Mr. Subramanyan was the Lecturer in Painting, Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda. He was the British Council Research Scholar, UK from 1955–56. He was Deputy Director (design), All India Handloom Board, Bombay from 1959 to 61 and Reader in Painting, Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda from 1961 to 65. * 1966–80 Professor of Painting, Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda * 1961–66 Design Consultant, All India * 1966–67 Fellowship of The JDR III Fund, New York * 1968–74 Dean, Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda * 1975 Elected to the World Crafts Council * Delegate, Asian Assembly, World Craft Council, Sydney * 1976 Member delegate, General Assembly, World Craft Council, Oaxtepec, Mexico * Visiting lecturer, Canadian universities: Montreal, Ottawa, Hamilton * 1977–78 Visiting Fellow, Kala Bhavan, Visva Bharati, Santiniketan * 1980–89 Professor of Painting, Kala Bhavan, Visva Bharati, Santiniketan * 1985 Guest, Chinese Artists Association, China * 1987–88 Christensen Fellow, St. Catherine’s College, Oxford * 1989 Professor Emeritus, Kala Bhavan, Visva Bharati, Santiniketan * 2004 Left Santiniketan and shifted back to Baroda in September.

Honours and awards

* 1963: Medallion of Honourable Mention, Sao Paulo Biennale, Brazil * 1965: National Award,

Lalit Kala Akademi The Lalit Kala Akademi or National Academy of Art (LKA) is India's national academy of fine arts. It is an autonomous organisation, established in New Delhi in 1954 by Government of India to promote and propagate understanding of Indian art, in ...

* 1968: Gold Medal, The First International Triennale, New Delhi * 1975:

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

, Government of India * 1991: Gagan-Aban Puraskar,

Visva-Bharati University Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the ...

, Santiniketan * 1992:

D.Litt. Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

(Honoris Causa),

Rabindra Bharati University Rabindra Bharati University is a public research university in Kolkata, India. It was founded on May 8, 1962, under the Rabindra Bharati Act of the Government of West Bengal in 1961, to mark the birth centenary of the poet Rabindranath Tagore. ...

, Calcutta * 2006: Awarded

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

by the Government of India * 2009: Awarded Dishikottam, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan * 2011: Awarded D.Litt. (Honoris Causa),

Assam University Assam University is a collegiate central public university located at Silchar, Assam, India. It was founded in the year 1994 by the provisions of an act enacted by the Parliament of India. The Governor of Assam is the Chief Rector and the ...

Silchar Silchar is a city and the headquarters of the Cachar district of the state of Assam, India. It is located south east of Guwahati. It was founded by Captain Thomas Fisher in 1832 when he shifted the headquarters of Cachar to Janiganj in Silchar. ...

. * 2012: Awarded the

by the Government of India * 2015: Awarded the

Dhirubhai Thakar Savyasachi Saraswat Award The Dhirubhai Thakar Savyasachi Saraswat Award is an honour in Gujarat, India, given annually to the person who has contributed significantly in the field of Arts. The award, created in honour of Gujarati writer and scholar Dhirubhai Thaker, is ...

Memberships and associations

* 1961–67 All India Board of Technical Studies in Applied Art * 1961–65 Gujarat

* 1967–79

* 1968–74 Gujarat Lalit Kala Akademi * 1974–78 Member of the Governing Council,

National Institute of Design The National Institutes of Design (NIDs) are a group of autonomous public design universities in India, with the primary institute, founded in 1961, in Ahmedabad, with extension campuses in Gandhinagar and Bengaluru. The other NIDs are loc ...

, Ahmedabad * 1981–84 Member Siksha-samiti and Karma-samiti of

Visva Bharati Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the w ...

* 1981–84 Member of the All India Handloom and Handicrafts Board He has also been on the Board of studies of M.S. University, Baroda; Benaras Hindu University, Benaras; Punjab University, Chandigarh; College of Fine Arts, Trivadrum, Kerala; Faculty of Fine Arts, Bombay University; Rabindra Bharati University, Calcutta etc. and a member of the Editorial advisory Board of Leonardo.

Books

* 1978 Moving Focus: Essays on Indian Art, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi. (Reissued by Seagull Books, Calcutta in 2006) * 1987 The Living Tradition, Seagull Books, Calcutta * 1992 The Creative Circuit, Seagull Books, Calcutta * 2006 Translation of Benodebehari Mukherjee’s Chitrakar, Seagull Books, Calcutta * 2007 Poems, Seagull Books, Calcutta * 2007 The Magic of Making: Essays on Art and Culture, Seagull Books, Calcutta

Illustrated books

* 1969 When God First Made the Animals He Made Them All Alike * 1972 The Butterfly and the Cricket, A Summer Story, Robby * 1974 Our Friends the Ogres, The King and the Little Man * 1979 How Poppy Grew happy, Cat’s Night and Day, Frog Life is Fun Life * 1985 Of Ogres Beasts and Men (When God First Made the Animals He Made Them All Alike, Our Friends the Ogres, and The King and the Little Man reissued as a boxed set) * 1995 How Hanu Became Hanuman, Death in Eden, In the Zoo (All three reissued in 1996) * 1998 The Tale of the Talking Face

Murals

* 1955 Jyoti Ltd., Baroda Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda * 1963 ‘King of the Dark Chamber’, Rabindralaya, Lucknow * 1965 India Pavilion, New York World Fair, New York * 1969 ‘India of my Dreams Pavilion’, Gandhi Darshan, New Delhi * 1976 R & D Building, Jyoti Pvt. Ltd., Baroda * 1988 Sand cast Cement Mural, Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan * 1989 Reverse painting on Glass Mural (with school children), Santiniketan * 1990 Black and White Mural,

Kala Bhavana Kala Bhavana (Institute of Fine Arts) is the fine arts faculty of Visva-Bharati University, in Shantiniketan, India. It is an institution of education and research in visual arts, founded in 1919, it was established by Nobel laureate Rabindran ...

, Santiniketan (first phase) * 1993 Black and White Mural, Kala Bhavana, Santiniketan (second phase) * 2009 Black and White Mural, Kala Bhavana, Santiniketan (2nd version)

Students

Some of his students were

Bhupen Khakhar Bhupen Khakhar (also spelled Bhupen Khakkar, 10 March 1934 – 8 August 2003) was an Indian artist. He was a member of the Baroda Group and gained international recognition for his work as "India's first 'Pop' artist." Works Khakhar was a sel ...

Ghulam Rasool Santosh Ghulam Rasool Santosh (1929 – March 10, 1997), also known as G. R. Santosh, was a prominent Indian painter and poet. He was best known for his themes inspired by Kashmir Shaivism. In 1979, he became the recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award for ...

Gulam Mohammed Sheikh Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh (born 16 February 1937) is a painter, poet and art critic from Gujarat, India. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1983 and Padmabhushan in 2014 for his contribution in field of art. Early life Sheikh was born on 16 Februa ...

Haku Shah Haku Vajubhai Shah (26 March, 1934 – 21 March, 2019) was an Indian painter, Gandhian, cultural anthropologist and author on folk and tribal art and culture. His art belonged to the Baroda Group and his works are considered in the line of art ...

Jayant Parikh Jayant Parikh (born 2 April 1940) is an Indian artist, printmaker, and muralist. He is a student of N. S. Bendre, K. G. Subramanyan and Sankho Chaudhuri. He lives and works in Vadodara, India. His work is held in the collections of the Nationa ...

Jyoti Bhatt Jyotindra Manshankar Bhatt (12 March 1934), better known as Jyoti Bhatt, is an Indian artist best known for his modernist work in painting and printmaking and also his photographic documentation of rural Indian culture. He studied painting unde ...

Jyotsna Bhatt Jyotsna Jyoti Bhatt (6 March 194011 July 2020) was an Indian ceramist and potter. She first studied at and then for forty years taught at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda . Biography Jyotsna Bhatt was born on 6 March 1940 in Mandvi, ...

, Laxma Goud, Mrinalini Mukherjee, Nilima Sheikh, Rajeev Lochan,

Ratan Parimoo Ratan Parimoo, born in Kashmir, is an art historian, art educator, pedagogue, artist and former director of the Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Museum, Ahmedabad. Ratan Parimoo was one of the founder members of Baroda Group The Baroda Group refers to the ...

, Rekha Rodwittiya,

Shanti Dave Shanti Dave is an Indian painter and sculptor, considered by many as one of the major Indian artists of the twentieth century. He is a former member of the Lalit Kala Akademi and the Sahitya Kala Parishad. The Government of India awarded him th ...

, Thota Vaikuntam, Vivan Sundaram.

References

External links

K G Subramanyan Paintings"K G Subramanyan Profile,Interview and Artworks"

K. G. Subramanyan video at Web of Stories

Children's books by K G SubramanyanK. G. Subramanyan : Artist Profile and Artworks on 'Artisera'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Subramanyan, K. G. 20th-century Indian painters Indian children's book illustrators Presidency College, Chennai alumni Emeritus Professors in India Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts 1924 births 2016 deaths Rockefeller Foundation people Fellows of the Lalit Kala Akademi Visva-Bharati University faculty Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda faculty Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in arts Visva-Bharati University alumni Indian art educators Indian arts administrators Painters from Kerala Indian male painters 20th-century Indian educators Indian engravers Indian lithographers