Kalpathi Ganpathi "K.G." Subramanyan (5 February 1924 29 June 2016) was an Indian artist. He was awarded the

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ( , lit. "Lotus Grandeur") 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 w ...

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 Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana in addition to other regions of India. The ...

family on 5th February, 1924 in

Kuthuparamba Kuthuparamba or Koothuparamba is a municipality in Kannur district of Kerala, India. It is about 24 km southeast of Kannur and 14 km east of Thalassery. Administration Kuthuparamba Municipality is a part of Kuthuparamba Assembly con ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

, 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,one of the prominent 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, environ ...

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

British Rule The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or dire ...

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

Santiniketan Shantiniketan (IPA: Help:IPA/Bengali, �antiniketɔn 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 Devendra ...

to study in Kala Bhavan, the art faculty of

Visva Bharati University Visva-Bharati (IAST: ''Viśva-Bhāratī''), () is a Public university, public Central University (India), central university and an Institute of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath ...

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

Nandalal Bose Nandalal Bose (3 December 1882 – 16 April 1966) was one of the pioneers of modern Indian art and a key figure of Santiniketan: The Making of a Contextual Modernism, Contextual Modernism. A pupil of Abanindranath Tagore, Bose was known for his ...

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 ...

and

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

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

Faculty of Fine Arts Faculty or faculties may refer to: Academia * Faculty (academic staff), professors, researchers, and teachers of a given university or college (North American usage) * Faculty (division), a large department of a university by field of study (us ...

M.S. University Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, formerly Baroda College, is a public university in the city of Vadodara, Gujarat, India. Originally established as a college in 1881, it became a public university on April 30, 1949 and was renamed after ...

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is a city situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district. The city is named for its abundance of banyan ...

. His contribution helped Faculty of Fine Arts MSU Vadodara to gain Nationalist movement in Arts. 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 lang ...

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 foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller ("Seni ...

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 School. ...

at the

National Gallery of Modern Art The National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) is the premier art gallery under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The main museum at Jaipur House in New Delhi was established on 29 March 1954 by the Government of India, with subsequent b ...

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 SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Serb Autonomous Regions (''Srpska autonomna oblast'', SAO), during the breakup of ...

, 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 A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

, The First International Triennale, New Delhi * 1975:

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

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

Visva-Bharati University Visva-Bharati (IAST: ''Viśva-Bhāratī''), () is a public central university and an Institute of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which ...

, Santiniketan * 1992:

D.Litt. Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

(Honoris Causa),

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

, Calcutta * 2006: Awarded

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') 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 Januar ...

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

Assam University Assam University is a 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. Former Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha is the Chancellor, the Gover ...

Silchar Silchar is a city and the headquarters of the Cachar district of the state of Assam, India. It is second largest city of Assam after Guwahati in terms of population and GDP. It is also administrative capital of Barak Valley division. It is locate ...

. * 2012: Awarded the

by the Government of India * 2015: Awarded the Dhirubhai Thakar Savyasachi Saraswat Award

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 (NID) are a group of autonomous public design institutes in India, with the first institute established in 1961 in Ahmedabad. The other NIDs are located in the cities of Kurukshetra, Amaravati, Jorhat and Bho ...

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

Visva Bharati Visva-Bharati (IAST: ''Viśva-Bhāratī''), () is a public central university and an Institute of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which ...

* 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, 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, Gulam Mohammed Sheikh, Haku Shah,

Jayant Parikh Jayant Parikh (born 2 April 1940) is an Indian modern contemporary 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. Biography Jayant Parik ...

, Jyoti Bhatt, Jyotsna Bhatt, Laxma Goud, Mrinalini Mukherjee,

Nilima Sheikh Nilima Sheikh (born 18 November 1945) is a visual artist based in Baroda, India. Since the mid-80s, Sheikh has done extensive research about traditional art forms in India, advocated for the sustainability of the practice of traditional painte ...

, Raghav Kaneria, Rajeev Lochan, Ratan Parimoo, Rekha Rodwittiya, Shanti Dave,

Thota Vaikuntam Thota Vaikuntam (born 1942) is an Indian painter. His paintings capture simple lifestyle of villagers like the paddy fields, toddy pots on shoulders of men, the household chores, temple rituals etc. His drawings range from stark charcoal on ...

Vivan Sundaram Vivan Sundaram (28 May 1943 – 29 March 2023) was an Indian contemporary artist. He worked in many different media, including painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, installation, and video art, and his work was politically conscious an ...

References

External links

"K G Subramanyan Profile, Interview and Artworks"

K. G. Subramanyan video at Web of Stories

Children's books by K G Subramanyan

K. G. Subramanyan Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Subramanyan, K. G. 20th-century Indian painters Indian children's book illustrators Presidency College, Chennai alumni 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 Academic staff of Visva-Bharati University Academic staff of Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda 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 20th-century Indian engravers 21st-century Indian engravers Indian lithographers Recipients of Kalidas Samman