Keshav Malik (5 November 1924 – 11 June 2014) was an Indian poet, art and literary critic, arts scholar, and curator. He remained art critic for the ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

'' (1960–1972) and ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' (1975–2000). He published eighteen volumes of poetry and edited six anthologies of English translations of Indian poetry. He was awarded the

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 ...

, the fourth highest civilian award in India, for his contribution to literature. In 2004, the

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 ...

, India's National Academy of Art, made him a Fellow of the Lalit Kala Akademi for lifetime contribution, which is its highest award.

Early life and background

Malik was born in the town of Miani, now in the Punjab, Pakistan, but at the time it was part of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. His younger sister is arts and dance scholar

Kapila Vatsyayan Kapila Vatsyayan (25 December 1928 – 16 September 2020) was a leading scholar of Indian classical dance, art, architecture, and art history. She served as a member of parliament and bureaucrat in India, and also served as the founding directo ...

and brother Bhashi Malik. He is also related to the brothers

Balraj Sahni Balraj Sahni (born Yudhishthir Sahni; 1 May 1913 – 13 April 1973) was an Indian film and stage actor, who is best known for (1946), '' Do Bigha Zameen'' (1953), '' Chhoti Bahen'' (1959), '' Kabuliwala'' (1961), Waqt (1965) and '' Garm Hava'' ...

and

Bhisham Sahni Bhisham Sahni (8 August 1915 – 11 July 2003) was an Indian writer, playwright in Hindi and an actor, most famous for his novel ''Tamas'' ("Darkness"/'Ignorance") and the television screenplay adaptation of the same name, a powerful and passio ...

. He grew up in

Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

, where he graduated from the Amar Singh College, Srinagar in 1945. From 1947 to 1948, he was a personal assistant to

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

. During the 1950s, Malik studied

Renaissance art Renaissance art (1350 – 1620) is the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of the period of European history known as the Renaissance, which emerged as a distinct style in Italy in about AD 1400, in parallel with developments which occurr ...

in Florence, French at the Sorbonne, and attended lectures at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

.India International Centre, Ed. (2010). ''Water: Culture, Politics and Management'', p. 155. Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd.

Career

From 1960 to 1972, Malik was art critic for

The Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter of K. K. Birla. ...

. During the 1950s, he was literary editor of ''Thought'', a weekly Indian journal of the arts. In 1973–74, Malik was curator for "The Human Condition," an exhibition of contemporary Indian art that travelled to Bulgaria, Poland, Belgium, and

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. From 1975 to 2000, Malik was art critic for

. Malik has published 18 volumes of poetry, including ''The Lake Surface and Other Poems'', ''Storm Warning'', and ''Between Nobodies and Stars''. He has also edited six anthologies of English translations of Indian poetry, and is a frequent lecturer and seminar participant. He co-founded the Poetry Society of India and was the president of the Poetry Club of India. He also remained an advisor to 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 ...

and an executive board member to the

. Malik was awarded the

for literature in 1991, given by the Government of India. Keshav Malik also wrote "Attars of Existence" based on the abstract works of Sudip Roy. He has also been the subject of two documentaries, ''Keshav Malik – The Truth of Art'' and ''Keshav Malik – A Look Back''. Malik died at age 89 at his home in New Delhi on 11 June 2014."Humane Colossus", The Statesman, 28 June 2014.
He was survived by his wife Usha.

Bibliography

*Poems Writers Workshop, India. 1971

References

External links

Keshav Malik homepage Amazon.com bibliography
* * *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malik, Keshav 1924 births 2014 deaths Indian literary critics Indian male journalists University of Paris alumni Columbia University alumni Fellows of the Lalit Kala Akademi English-language poets from India Indian art critics 20th-century Indian poets People from Sargodha District 20th-century Indian journalists Indian male poets 20th-century Indian male writers Writers from Srinagar