K G Subramanyan

Born in Kerala on 15 February 1924, K G Subramanyan was among the leading artists who sought to explore a post-Independence Indian identity through art. He completed his Bachelor's degree in Economics from the Presidency College in Chennai before pursuing his interest in art in Santiniketan in 1944, where he studied under the tutelage of Benode Behari Mukherjee, Nandalal Bose, and Ramkinkar Baij for four years. In 1955, Subramanyan was awarded a British Council Research Fellowship to study at the Slade School of Art, University of London.

A writer, scholar, teacher, and art historian, K G Subramanyan was also prolific in his art, employing a range of mediums and styles. His belief in the revival of Indian traditions led him to create a new artistic idiom, and his practice incorporated drawing, oil painting, watercolor, murals, and sculpture alongside toy making, set design, glass painting, pottery, and weaving. His dedication to his art transformed Indian modernism and made it more diverse.

Subramanyan's career began in earnest in the 1950s, and his early training in Santiniketan was evident. His early works trace his transition from an impressionable student, influenced by two dissimilar mentors - Ramkinkar Baij and Benode Behari Mukherjee - to a young artist putting together the rudimentary framework of a visual language and vision of his own. (R Siva Kumar, Self Portraits and Other Early Drawings, Kolkata Seagull Foundation for the Arts, 2020)

1966 Subramanyan was awarded a J D Rockefeller III Fund Fellowship, which entailed a year-long stay in New York. It was during this period that his ongoing interest in semi-abstraction further evolved, reviving traditional techniques by infusing them with a unique plasticity that contemporized them and increased their reach.

From the 1980s onwards, Subramanyan's expanded artistic vocabulary grew to incorporate elements from a popular bazaar tradition of glass painting. According to R Siva Kumar, Subramanyan's late works were provoking and celebratory, teasing and provocative, humane and irreverent at once. Done with scintillating spontaneity, they were not merely expressive and complex like most things he had done in the past but were also some of his most vibrant paintings. This came partly from his deep engagement with the world and partly from the way he moved from one level of communication, or expression, to another through calculated inflections of his visual idiom.

The artist's interest in writing elevated his work, which became an exemplar of what the combination of language and art can achieve. Subramanyan's understanding of art as a kind of linguistic system allows him to envision a living tradition in which artists constantly renew traditional as well as modern forms by not only accepting the eclectic nature of the modern world but also by maintaining contact with the world. (Margaret Richardson, Conclusion An Artist of Modern Life, The Aesthetic Vision of K G Subramanyan, Kolkata Seagull Books, 2013, p. 157)

In a career spanning nearly seven decades, K G Subramanyan's work has been exhibited in over fifty solo shows, including an extensive 2015-2016 exhibition by Kolkata's Seagull Foundation for the Arts in collaboration with the Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, and the Harrington Street Arts Centre, Kolkata. Subramanyan was also an inspiration to generations of students as a member of the Fine Arts Faculty at M S University in Vadodara. He passed away in Vadodara on 29 June 2016 at 92.

BORN

February 15, 1924, Kuthuparamba in Kerala

DIED

June 29, 2016, Vadodara

EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS

1955-56 Slade School of Art, University of London

1944-48 Kala Bhavan, Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan

1942-43 BA, Presidency College, Chennai

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2018 Women Seen and Remembered, Shridharani Gallery and Art Heritage, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi

2017 K G Subramanyan Drawings of Women, Nandan Gallery, Kala Bhavana, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan presented by The Seagull Foundation for the Arts, Kolkata

2015-16 Sketches, doodles and drawings by K G Subramanyan, presented by The Seagull Foundation for the Arts, Kolkata at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, The Harrington Street Arts Centre, Kolkata, Aakriti Art Gallery, Kolkata

2015 War of Hallows, Red Earth Art Gallery, Vadodara, Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata

2015 About This and That, Sarjan Art Gallery, Vadodara

2014 New works by K G Subramanyan, presented by The Seagull Foundation for the Arts, Kolkata in association with Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi at Government Museum & Arts Gallery, Chandigarh

2013-14 Mythologies, Galerie 88, Calcutta

2010 Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi

2010 The Drawings of K G Subramanyan, The Guild, Mumbai

2010 Drawings from Bangladesh, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai

2010 Art Reflections, Mumbai

2009 The Magic of Making Recent Artworks by K G Subramanyan, Akar Prakar, Aakriti Art Gallery and The Seagull Foundation for the Arts, Kolkata

2009 Nandan Gallery, Kala Bhavana, Kolkata

2007 The Painted Plates, The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai

2007 The Magic of Making, presented by The Seagull Foundation for the Arts at The Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre, Kolkata and Rabindra Bhawan, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi. 

2006 Artistic heritage, New Delhi

2006 Faculty of Fine Arts, Masters at University of Baroda, Gujarat

2005 Recent Paintings, presented by Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

2004 Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai

2004 Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2003 K G Subramanyan A Retrospective, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi and Mumbai

2003 K G Subramanyan Recent paintings, Artistic heritage, New Delhi

2003 Enamel Paintings, Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre, Kolkata

2003 Chairs an exhibition of recent works, The Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre, Kolkata

2002 Exhibition of paintings by Professor KG Subramanyan, Sarjan Art Gallery, Vadodara

2001 Artistic heritage, New Delhi

2000 K G Subramanyan, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2000 Artistic heritage, New Delhi

1999 Seagull Media and Arts Resource Centre, Kolkata

1999 Sakshi Gallery, Bombay

1999 Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi

1999 K G Subramanyan - Dissolving Contradictions, The Window, Mumbai

1998 K G Subramanyan Paintings and Drawings, organized by Seagull Foundation for the Arts, Kolkata at Art Heritage, New Delhi

1998 A recent series of large-sized paintings by Professor KG Subramanyan, Art Heritage, New Delhi

1997 Nazar Gallery, Vadodara

1997 KG Subramanyan, Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai

1996 Artistic Heritage, New Delhi

1994 K G Subramanyan Paintings Exhibition, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai

1994 Recent works by K G Subramanyan, Center for International Modern Art (CIMA), Calcutta

1993 K G Subramanyan Paintings Exhibition, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai

1993 Artistic Heritage, New Delhi

1992 K G Subramanyan, Painting Exhibition, Sakshi Gallery, Synergy Art Foundation, Bangalore and Chennai

1992 Artistic heritage, New Delhi

1991 Exhibition of paintings by K G Subramanyan, Kala Yatra and Sistas Art Gallery, Bangalore, Karnataka. 

1990 Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai

1990 Gallery 7, Bombay

1990 CCA Gallery, New Delhi

1989 Cymroza Art Gallery, Bombay

1989 Of Myths and Fairy Tales, Recent Works K G Subramanyan, Seagull Foundation and Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta

1988 Exhibition of acrylic sheet paintings, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford

1986 Exhibition of acrylic sheet paintings, Art Heritage, New Delhi. 

1986 Cymroza Art Gallery, Bombay

1986 Gallery 7, Bombay

1986 Contemporary Art Center Gallery, New Delhi

1985 Artistic heritage, New Delhi

1984 Retrospective, Artistic Heritage, New Delhi. 

1983 K G Subramanyan Retrospective, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta

1982 Exhibition of paintings on acrylic sheets and glass, Art Heritage, New Delhi and Nandan Gallery, Santiniketan. 

1981 Retrospective, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal

1980 Artistic heritage, New Delhi

1979 Exhibition of Prints, Artistic Heritage, New Delhi. 

1978 Exhibition of Terracotta Paintings and Reliefs, Nandan Gallery, Santiniketan and Art Heritage, New Delhi

1971 Polytichs Exhibition, Kunika Chemould Art Centre, New Delhi

1969 Chemould Gallery, Mumbai

1969 Kunika Chemould Art Center, New Delhi

1967 Chemould Gallery, Mumbai

1967 Navina Gallery, New York

1966 Chemould Gallery, Mumbai

1962-63 Kunika Chemould Art Centre, New Delhi

1961 Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay

1959 Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay

1958 Delhi Silpi Chakra, New Delhi

1956 Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay

1955 Delhi Silpi Chakra, Hall of Freemasons, New Delhi

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2018 In the Honeycomb of Stories, Art Musings, Mumbai

2017 Documenta 14, presented by Seagull Foundation for the Arts, Kolkata at EMST-National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens

2013 Ideas of the Sublime, presented by Vadehra Art Gallery at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

2013 Edge of Reason- and Beyond, into pure creativity, presented by Indian Art Circle at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

2013 Still Life, Gallery Art Motif, New Delhi

2012 Diva, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai

2012 Contemporary A selection of modern and contemporary art, presented by Sakshi Gallery at The Park, Chennai

2011 Adbhutam Rasa in Indian Art, Center for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata

2011 The Art of Drawing, The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai

2011 Roots in the Air, Branches Below Modern and Contemporary Art from India, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose

2011 Time Unfolded, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi

2011 Pause a Collection, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai

2011 High-Light, presented by Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai at The Oberoi, Gurgaon

2011 Of humor, wit and satire, Gallery Threshold, New Delhi

2010-11 Lot, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai

2010 The Living Insignia, Ensign Gallery, New Delhi

2010 Modern Folk The roots of popular art of the modernist avant-garde, Aicon Gallery, New York

2009 Think Small, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi

2009 Kalpana Figurative Art in India, presented by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) at Aicon Gallery, London, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) 

2009 Charting Time, Bodhi Art, Mumbai

2008 Baroda A Tale of Two Cities, (Part I), Sarjan Art Gallery, Vadodara, Gujarat

2008 X to the rhythm of Jehangir, presented by Art Musings at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

2008 Freedom 2008 Sixty years after the independence of India, Center for International Modern Art (CIMA), Calcutta

2007-08 From Everyday To The Imagined Modern Indian Art, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore and Art Museum, Seoul National University, Seoul

2006-07 Edge of Desire Recent Art in India, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi and Mumbai

2006 Shadow Lines, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2006 Drawing Exhibition: An Act of Art II, Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai

2005 Three solo exhibitions: K G Subramanyan, Manjit Bawa, Dhruva Mistry, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

2005 Remembering Bhupen, Chemould Gallery, Mumbai

2005 Cubism in Asia Unlimited Dialogues, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo and South Korea

2005 Edge of Desire Recent Art in India, Queens Museum of Art, New York

2004 Edge of Desire Recent Art in India, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth

1998 Appointment with Destiny Art from Modern India 1947-97, Singapore

1996 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1996 Artistic Heritage, New Delhi

1996 Chamatkara Myth and Magic in Indian Art, Center for International Modern Art (CIMA), Calcutta and London

1994 Center for International Modern Art (CIMA), Calcutta

1993 Seven Contemporary Indian Painters, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

1992 Journeys Within Landscapes, organized by Sakshi Gallery at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1986 Gray Art Gallery, New York

1982 India Myth and Reality, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, United Kingdom

1983 Six Indian Artists, Tate Gallery and Royal Academy of Arts, London.

PARTICIPATIONS

2014 Ode to Monumental Celebration, Visuality, and Ideology, presented by Saffronart at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, and Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

2013-14 Transition, 20th anniversary exhibition, Center for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata

2011 Ethos V Indian Art through the Lens of History (1900 to 1980), Indigo Blue Art, Singapore

2010 Masters Corner, organized by Indian Contemporary Art Journal at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, India International Art Fair, New Delhi

2010 Contemporary Printmaking in India, presented by Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai

2010 National Print Portfolio, Marvel Art Gallery, Ahmedabad

2010 Roots, 25th Anniversary Exhibition of Sakshi Art Gallery, Mumbai at The Park, Chennai

2008-09 India Moderna, organized by the Institut Valencia dArt Modern (IVAM) and Casa Asia, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture of Valencia, Spain

2008 Moderns, Royal Cultural Centre, Amman, Jordan organized by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi in collaboration with Embassy of India, Amman, Jordan

2008 Vintage 2008, The Inoxidable Gallery, New Delhi

1996 Contemporary Indian Paintings, Sotheby's, New York

1995 Seven contemporary Indian painters, Gallery le Monde de l'Art, Paris

1988 Festival of India, Tokyo

1987 Festival of India, Moscow

1987 Coup de Corazon, Geneva

1987 Kala Yatra, Bengaluru

1986 Indian art from the collection of the Chester and Davida Herwitz family, Hood Museum, Hanover

1984 Kala Yatra, Bengaluru, Karnataka

1982 Contemporary Indian Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London

1980 Asian Artists Exhibition, Part II, Japan

1980 Indian Art, Washington DC, USA

1980 Indian Art Exhibition, Tokyo

1979 Sao Paulo Biennial, Brazil

1979 Asian Artists Exhibition, Part I, Japan

1976 Biennial Mention, France

1975 Third International Triennial, New Delhi

1971 Indian Art, Tehran, Iran

1968 First International Triennial, New Delhi

1966 Indian Art Exhibition, Ghent, Belgium

1965 Art Now in India, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle

1965 Commonwealth Arts Festival, London

1964 Exhibition of Textile Paintings, Murals, and Woven Tapestries, New York World Trade Fair, New York

1964 Tokyo Biennale, Japan

1961 Sao Paulo Biennial

1956 Three young artists from abroad, Hitchin

HONORS AND AWARD

2015 Dhirubhai Thakar Savyasachi Saraswat Award Winner

2012 Awarded the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India

2011 Awarded D.Litt. (Honoris Causa), Assam University, Silchar

2009 Awarded Dishikottam, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan

2006 Awarded Padma Bhushan by the Government of India

2005 Lifetime Achievement Award, Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta

2004 Lalit Kala Ratna Puraskar, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

2001 Krishti Puraskar wins, Kerala

2001 Manaviyam Ravi Varma Award, Government of Kerala

2000 Jadunath Sarkar Gold Medal, Asiatic Society, Calcutta

2000 Abanindra Puraskar, Calcutta

1999 Kala Ratna, All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi

1994 Shiromani Puraskar, Calcutta

1992 D. Litt. (Honoris Causa), Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata

1991 Gagan-Aban Puraskar, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan

1980 Kalidas Samman, Government of Madhya Pradesh

1975 Padma Shri, Government of India

1968 Gold Medal, First International Triennial, New Delhi

1966 Scholarship, JD Rockefeller III Fund, USA

1965 National Award for Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

1963 Honorable Mention Medal, Sao Paulo Biennial, Brazil

Maharashtra State Award 1961

1961 Honorable Mention Medal, Sao Paulo Biennial

1959 Bombay Art Society, Mumbai

1957 Governor's Award, Bombay Art Society, Mumbai

1955-56 British Council Research Grant to Slade School of Art