Kalpathi Ganpathi "K.G." Subramanyan (5 February 1924 29 June 2016) was an Indian artist. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2012.

Life

Subramanyan was born in Tamil Brahmin family on 5th February, 1924 in Kuthuparamba in

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. During the freedom struggle he was actively involved and was known for his Gandhian 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 to study in Kala Bhavan, the art faculty of Visva Bharati University, in the year 1944. Under the tutelage of such pioneers of modern Indian art as Nandalal Bose, Benode Behari Mukherjee and Ramkinkar Baij, Subramanyan studied there till 1948. In 1951 he became a lecturer at the Faculty of Fine Arts in M.S. University in Baroda. 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 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 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 Baroda, 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 at the National Gallery of Modern Art.

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 * 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, Santiniketan * 1992: D.Litt. (Honoris Causa), Rabindra Bharati University, Calcutta * 2006: Awarded Padma Bhushan by the Government of India * 2009: Awarded Dishikottam, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan * 2011: Awarded D.Litt. (Honoris Causa), Assam University,

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 Padma Vibhushan 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 Lalit Kala Akademi * 1967–79 Lalit Kala Akademi * 1968–74 Gujarat Lalit Kala Akademi * 1974–78 Member of the Governing Council, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad * 1981–84 Member Siksha-samiti and Karma-samiti of Visva Bharati, Santiniketan * 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, Ghulam Rasool Santosh, Gulam Mohammed Sheikh, Haku Shah, Jayant Parikh, Jyoti Bhatt, Jyotsna Bhatt, Laxma Goud, Mrinalini Mukherjee, Nilima Sheikh, 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.

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