Vattaparambil Sankaran Valiathan (October 1919 – 21 June 2006), commonly referred to as Artist V. S. Valiathan, was an Indian

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

from

Pandalam Pandalam is a municipality in Pathanamthitta district Kerala, India. Pandalam is known for its connection with Ayyappan and Sabarimala. It recognised ''as the cultural capital of Travancore'', Pandalam hosts educational institutions rang ...

Travancore The kingdom of Travancore (), also known as the kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor () or later as Travancore State, was a kingdom that lasted from until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvanan ...

(Present-day

Pathanamthitta district Pathanamthitta District (), is one of the List of districts of Kerala, 14 districts in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. The district headquarters is in the town of Pathanamthitta. There are four municipalitie ...

, Kerala) who was known for his classical style of painting in the

Raja Ravi Varma Raja Ravi Varma () (29 April 1848 – 2 October 1906) was an Indian painter and artist. His works are one of the best examples of the fusion of European academic art with a purely Indian sensibility and iconography. Especially, he was notable f ...

tradition. His paintings show muted colours and natural overtones.

Early life

Valiathan was born at Pandalam, to Revathinal Ravi Varma Raja of the Pandalam Royal Family and Thottathil Madhavi Amma. His maternal grandfather Pandalathu Puthen Poomukhathu Kottarathil Aswathynal Godavarma Valiya Thmpuran was an artist in

mural painting A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

. Valiathan had his formal education from Thonnallur Malayalam Middle School and NSS English High School. He was trained in painting by Puthenveettil P. K. Gopala Pillai, who was his drawing master in school.

Career

Valiathan followed a realistic style in his paintings. His paintings were inspired from surroundings, Indian epics, and world classics. He drew more than 2,000 portraits and subject paintings. His famous paintings include ''Kulakkadavu'' (''Bathing Ghat''), ''Themmadikkattu'' (''The Ruffian Wind''), ''Vreela Vivasa'' (''The Bashful Damsel''), ''Macbeth'', ''Panchali'', ''Venalkkalam'' (''The Summer Season''), ''Urangunnal Sundari'' (''The Sleeping Beauty''), ''Prakrithi Drishyam'' (''The Landscape''), ''Vasthrakshepam'', ''Kurukshetra Yuddham'' (''The Battle of Kurukshetra''), ''Vishvamitranum Menakayum'' (''Vishvamitra and Menaka''), and ''Urvasy''. Valiathan drew from imagination and did not use models for his paintings. Valiathan has his own rendition of ''The Last Supper''. Some of his paintings are on display at the Sree Chitra Art Gallery,

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

. He had conducted many solo exhibitions of his paintings. Valiathan had his own art gallery and training centre by the name ''Chithrasala'' at Pandalam. Besides painting, Valiathan was also interested in

Kathakali ''Kathakali'' (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: Kathakaḷi ) is a traditional form of Indian Classical Dance, and one of the most complex forms of Theatre of India, Indian theatre. It is a play of verses. These vers ...

. He authored a Kathakali story by the name ''Natyodbhavam'', which was about the origin of

Bharathanatyam ''Bharatanatyam'' is a Indian classical dance form that came from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas of Hinduism and Jainism. ...

. This was first staged on the occasion of Valiathan's 70th birthday celebrations. Valiathan had also directed a documentary about

Swathi Thirunal Sri Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma III (16 April 1813 – 26 December 1846) was the Maharaja of the Kingdom of Travancore. He was a great musician and composer who has to his credit over 400 classical compositions in both Carnatic and Hindustani st ...

Personal life

Valiathan died on 21 June 2006 at Naduvilemalika Palace, Pandalam. In his obituary, the then Cultural Affairs Minister of Kerala, M. A. Baby observed that Valiathan's professional life was an example of an artist's integrity towards his own creations.

Awards and recognitions

* Raja Ravi Varma Award, 2006 * Chitrakala Parishath Fellowship, 1996 *

Kerala Lalitakala Academy Kerala Lalithakala Akademi () is an autonomous cultural organization established in Kerala, India, in 1962. Its primary purpose is to promote and propagate fine arts such as painting, sculpture, and visual arts in the state. The Akademi funct ...

Award, 2002

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valiathan, V. S. 1919 births 2006 deaths Painters from Kerala People from Pandalam Malayali people Indian portrait painters 20th-century Indian painters Indian male painters 20th-century Indian male artists