K. G. Subramanyan

K. G. Subramanyan
K. G. Subramanyan
	K.G. Subramanyan 2008.
Born	1924; Kuthuparamba, Kerala, India
Died	29 June 2016 (aged 92); Vadodra, Gujarat, India
Education	Visva-Bharati University
Alma mater	Visva-Bharati University
Occupation(s)	Painter, sculptor, muralist, printmaker, writer, academic
Movement	Contextual Modernism, Baroda Group
Awards	Padma Shree, Kalidas Samman, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan

Kalpathi Ganpathi "K.G." Subramanyan (1924 – 29 June 2016) was an Indian artist. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2012.^[4]

Life

Subramanyan was born in Tamil Brahmin family^[5] on 1924 in Kuthuparamba^[6]^[7] in Kerala, India,^[8] and initially studied economics at Presidency College, Madras.^[8] 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 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 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.^[9] 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.^[2]

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.^[10]

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, The First International Triennale, New Delhi
1975: Padma Shri, Government of India^[11]
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^[11]
2009: Awarded Dishikottam, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan
2011: Awarded D.Litt. (Honoris Causa), Assam University, Silchar.
2012: Awarded the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India^[11]
2015: Awarded the Dhirubhai Thakar Savyasachi Saraswat Award^[12]

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