K. G. Subramanyan

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 5 February 1924 in Kuthuparamba in Kerala, India, and initially studied economics at Presidency College, Madras. 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 passed away there on 29 June 2016.

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 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, São Paulo Biennale, Brazil 1965: National Award, Lalit Kala Akademi 1968: Gold Medal, The First International Triennale, New Delhi 1975: Padma Shri, 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

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, Vivan Sundaram.