T. K. Padmini (12 May 1940 – 11 May 1969) was an Indian painter from the south India state of

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 ...

. A recipient of multiple awards from the Chennai centre of the Lalit Kala Akademi, she was one of the prominent Indian woman painters. Her paintings have been displayed at The National Art Gallery,

Salar Jung Museum The Salar Jung Museum is an art museum located at Dar-ul-Shifa, on the southern bank of the Musi River, India, Musi River in the city of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It is one of the List of museums in India, notable National Museums of India. ...

, Hyderabad and the Durbar Hall Ground Art Gallery of

Kerala Lalithakala Akademi Kerala Lalithakala Academy for Fine Arts is an autonomous body which was established in 1962 to promote art and artistic heritage, based at Thrissur in Kerala. Murali Cheeroth is the newly appointed chairman of Kerala Lalitha Kala Akademi on 202 ...

. She died on 11 May 1969 at the age of 29.

Biography

Padmini was born on 12 May 1940 at Kadancheri, a small village near

Ponnani Ponnani () is a municipality in Ponnani Taluk, Malappuram District, in the state of Kerala, India. It serves as the administrative center of the Taluk and Block Panchayat of the same name. It is situated at the estuary of Bharatappuzha (Riv ...

, a coastal town in the

Malappuram district Malappuram (), is one of the List of districts of Kerala, 14 districts in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala, with a coastline of . It is the most populous district of Kerala, which is home to around 13% of the to ...

of the south Indian state of

to Kinattinkare Damodaran Nair, a government clerk. After early schooling at the local in Kadancheri, she did her higher school education at Basel Mission School, Ponnani and later at A. V. High School, Ponnani; it was during this time, her talent in arts was discovered by her arts teacher at school, K. L. Devassi. Her uncle, Divakara Menon, urged the poet,

Edasseri Govindan Nair Edasseri Govindan Nair ( ml, ഇടശ്ശേരി ഗോവിന്ദൻ നായർ; 23 December 1906 – 16 October 1974) was an Indian poet and playwright of Malayalam literature. Known as one of the major poets of Malayalam, Edasseri ...

, who accepted the girl in his house so that she could continue art studies under Devassi. After passing the Secondary School Leaving Certificate examination in 1956, she continued her training in art under the noted artist,

Namboothiri The Nambudiri (), also transliterated as Nampoothiri, Nambūdiri, Namboodiri, Nampoothiri, and Nampūtiri, are a Malayali Brahmin caste, native to what is now the state of Kerala, India, where they constituted part of the traditional feudal el ...

, who taught her without any remuneration. Padmini joined the

Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai The Government College of Fine Arts (initially known as the Madras School of Art) in Chennai is the oldest art institution in India. The institution was established in 1850 by surgeon Alexander Hunter as a private art school. In 1852, after be ...

in 1961, with assistance from Edasseri, Devan and

Akkitham Narayanan Akkitham Narayanan (born 1939) is a Paris-based Indian painter from Kerala. A student of such artists as K. C. S. Paniker, D. P. Roy Choudhury and Jean Bertholle, Narayanan's paintings are on display at various museums and galleries in many c ...

, who was a student at the institution during those days. Here, she had the opportunity to study under

K. C. S. Paniker Kovalezhi Cheeramputhoor Sankara Paniker (31 May 1911 – 16 January 1977) was an Indian metaphysical and abstract painter from Malabar District. He interpreted the country's age-old metaphysical and spiritual knowledge in the 1960s, when India ...

who was the principal at that time. She completed the six-year diploma in four years by securing double promotion twice, passing with a first rank in 1965 and stayed in Chennai, joining Vidyodaya Girls School in 1966; she also worked at Adarsh Vidyalaya Matriculation School and Children’s Garden Matriculation School. Her marriage to K. Damodaran, an artist and a fellow student at the College of Fine Arts, was in May 1968. She died on 11 May 1969, at the age of 29, succumbing to the complications developed after childbirth; her child, too, did not survive.

Legacy

The first exhibition of Padmini's paintings were at

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

where she had gone to visit, carrying a few of her own works;

M. V. Devan Madathil Vasudevan, popularly identified as M. V. Devan (15 January 1928 – 29 April 2014), was an Indian painter, sculptor, writer, art critic and orator. Besides his artistic works, he was also known for his architectural designs for a n ...

, the noted artist, on seeing her pictures, arranged for two of the charcoal drawings to be exhibited in the event. Her paintings featured the landscapes of her native place, village life and rural people, mixed with the anxieties and forebodings of her own mind. She participated in several exhibitions in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

and

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, including a ''One-Man Show'' held in Chennai in 1968 and at the National Exhibition, held in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

in 1969. Eighty-six of her paintings Padmini have been displayed at the Durbar Hall Gallery of

and a few drawings are in the archives of the Akademi in

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

. Her paintings viz. ''Portrait'' and ''Burial Ground'', are on display at the

National Art Gallery, Chennai The National Art Gallery situated in Egmore, Chennai, is one of the oldest art galleries in India. It is located in the Government Museum Complex on Pantheon Road, Egmore, which also houses the Government Museum and the Connemara Public Librar ...

, and a few others are at

, Hyderabad; besides private collections in India and abroad. The last of her works, ''Girl who flies the Kite'', was on display at the British Council, Chennai, organized by the Creative Art Forum.

Awards and honours

Padmini won her first honour in the form of a certificate of commendation from the Madras State Lalithakala Akademi for her painting ''Growth'' in 1963. The Association of Young Painters and Sculptors (AYPS) awarded her their annual award in 1965 for the painting, ''Women''. She received two more awards from the Madras State Lalit Kala Akademi in 1967, her paintings ''Dreamland'' and ''Dawn'', earning her the awards. Malayalanaadu weekly published a

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

on Padmini, on the occasion of the first anniversary of her death.

published a book on her, titled ''T. K. Padmini, a Monograph'', in 2005, which featured a foreword by

Kanayi Kunhiraman Kanayi Kunhiraman ( ml, കാനായി കുഞ്ഞിരാമന്‍; born 25 July 1937) is an Indian sculptor, best known for his outsize sculptures such as ''Yakshi'' of Malampuzha Dam Gardens, '' Sagarakanyaka'' at Shankumugham Be ...

, and reminiscences by T. K. Divakaran, her maternal uncle and mentor, K. Damodaran, her husband and

, one of the guiding figures in the artist's life, besides the colour reproduction of 28 Paintings and 8 drawings. In 2012, The Information and Public Relations Department of the Government of Kerala produced a 30-minute documentary on the life of Padmini under the title, ''Pattam Parathunna Penkutty''. The film, directed by Walter D'Cruz received three awards viz. Kerala State Television Award for the best documentary in 2012, International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) special jury award in 2013 and best documentary award at the Female Film Festival in 2013. Kerala Lalithakala Akademi have also instituted an annual award in her name, ''T. K. Padmini Puraskaram''.

In popular media

''T. K. Padmini Memorial Trust'', an eponymous organization, has undertaken to produce a biopic, Padmini, based on the life of the artist. The film, a directorial debut for writer,

Susmesh Chandroth Susmesh Chandroth (born April 1, 1977) is an Indian writer, who writes in Malayalam. He won the first Yuva Puraskar for Malayalam in 2011 instituted by the Sahitya Akademi, Government of India. Susmesh Chandroth is also involved in the Malayala ...

, features Anumol in Padmini's role.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Padmini Painters from Kerala 1940 births 1969 deaths Deaths in childbirth Indian women painters 20th-century Indian painters People from Malappuram district 20th-century Indian women artists Women artists from Kerala Malayali people Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai alumni