K G Subramanyan

K G SUBRAMANYAN

WAS BORN

February 15, 1924, Kerela

HE DIED

June 29, 2016, Vadodara

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

1955-56 Slade School of Art, University of London

1944-48 Kala Bhavan, Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan

1942-43 BA, Presidency College, Chennai

TITLE: WOMAN

ARTIST NAME: K G SUBRAMANYAN

MEDIUM: ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

SIZE: 23.5 X 20 INCHES

YEAR: 2002

STATUS: AVAILABLE

PRICE ON REQUEST

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Born in Kerala on February 15, 1924, K. G. Subramanyan was one of the leading artists who sought to explore a post-independence Indian identity through art. He completed his BA in Economics at the Presidency College in Chennai before continuing his interest in art at Santiniketan in 1944, where he studied under Benode Behari Mukherjee, Nandalal Bose, and Ramkinkar Baij for four years. In 1955, Subramanyan received a research grant from the British Council to study at the Slade School of Art, University of London.

Writer, scholar, teacher, and art historian, K. G. Subramanyan was also prolific in his art, employing a variety of media and styles. His belief in the resurgence of Indian traditions led him to create a new artistic language, and his practice incorporated drawing, oil painting, watercolor, murals, and sculpture along with toy-making, set design, painting. in glass, ceramics, and fabric. His dedication to his art transformed Indian modernism and made it more diverse.

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

In 1966, Subramanyan received a scholarship from the J D Rockefeller III Fund, which involved a one-year stay in New York. It was during this period that his continued interest in semi-abstraction further evolved, reviving traditional techniques infusing them with unique plasticity that temporized and increased their reach.

Beginning in the 1980s, Subramanyan's expanded artistic vocabulary grew to incorporate elements of a popular bazaar tradition of painting on glass. According to R. Siva Kumar, “Subramanyan's last works were provocative and celebratory, mocking and subversive, humane and irreverent at the same time. Done with scintillating spontaneity, they were not simply expressive and complex as most of the things he had done in the past, they were also some of his most vibrant paintings. This was due in part to his deep commitment to the world and in part to the way, he moved from one level of communication or expression to another through calculated inflections of his visual language. "

The artist's interest in writing elevated his work, which became an example of what the combination of language and art can achieve. “Subramanyan's understanding of art as a kind of linguistic system allows him to visualize a living tradition in which artists constantly renew traditional and modern forms not only accepting the eclectic nature of the 'modern' world but also 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, KG Subramanyan's work has been featured in over fifty solo exhibitions, including an extensive 2015-2016 exhibition by the Seagull Foundation for the Arts Kolkata in collaboration with the Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai. and the Harrington Street Center for the Arts. , Calcutta. Subramanyan was also an inspiration to generations of students as a member of the Faculty of Fine Arts at MS University in Vadodara. He passed away in Vadodara on June 29, 2016, at the age of 92.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

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

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

2015-16 Sketches, Scribbles and Drawings by KG Subramanyan, presented by the Seagull Foundation for the Arts, Kolkata at the Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; The Harrington Street Arts Center, Kolkata; Aakriti Art Gallery, Kolkata

2015 War of the Relics, Red Earth Art Gallery, Vadodara; Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata

2015 On this and that ...., Sarjan Art Gallery, Vadodara

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

2013-14 Mythologies, Galerie 88, Kolkata

2010 Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi

2010 Drawings by KG Subramanyan, The Guild, Mumbai

2010 Bangladesh Drawings, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai

2010 Art Musings, Mumbai

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

2009 Nandan Gallery, Kala Bhavana, Kolkata

2007 The Painted Platters, 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 Center, Kolkata and Rabindra Bhawan, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

2006 Art Heritage, New Delhi

2006 Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University of Baroda, Gujarat

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

2004 The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai

2004 Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

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

2003 KG Subramanyan: Recent Paintings, Art Heritage, New Delhi

2003 Enamel Paintings, The Seagull Arts and Media Resource Center, Kolkata

2003 Chairs: Recent Work Exhibition, Seagull Media & Arts Resource Center, Kolkata

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

2001 Art Heritage, New Delhi

2000 KG Subramanyan, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2000 Art Heritage, New Delhi

1999 Seagull Media and Arts Resource Center, Kolkata

1999 Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai

1999 Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi

1999 KG Subramanyan - Dissolving Contradictions, The Window, Mumbai

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

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

1997 Nazar Gallery, Vadodara

1997 KG Subramanyan, Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai

1996 Art Heritage, New Delhi

1994 Exhibition of paintings by KG Subramanyan, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai

1994 KG Subramanyan Recent Works, Center for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata

1993 Exhibition of paintings by KG Subramanyan, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai

1993 Art Heritage, New Delhi

1992 KG Subramanyan, Paintings Exhibition, Sakshi Gallery, Synergy Art Foundation, Bangalore and Chennai

1992 Art Heritage, New Delhi

1991 Exhibition of paintings by KG Subramanyan, Kala Yatra and Sistas Art Gallery, Bangalore, Karnataka

1990 Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai

1990 Gallery 7, Mumbai

1990 CCA Gallery, New Delhi

1989 Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai

1989 Of Myth and Fairy Tale, Recent Works- KG Subramanyan, Seagull Foundation and Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata

1988 Exhibition of Acrylic Paintings on Sheets, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford

1986 Exhibition of acrylic paintings on plates, artistic heritage, New Delhi

1986 Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai

1986 Gallery 7, Mumbai

1986 Center for Contemporary Art Gallery, New Delhi

1985 Art Heritage, New Delhi

1984 Retrospective, Art Heritage, New Delhi

1983 Retrospective: KG Subramanyan, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata

1982 Acrylic and Glass Sheet Exhibition, Art Heritage, New Delhi, and Nandan Gallery, Santiniketan

1981 Retrospective, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal

1980 Art 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 Policy Exhibition, Kunika Chemould Art Center, New Delhi

1969 Gallery Chemould, Mumbai

1969 Kunika Chemould Art Center, New Delhi

1967 Chemould Gallery, Mumbai

1967 Gallery Navina, New York

1966 Gallery Chemould, Mumbai

1962-63 Kunika Chemould Art Center, New Delhi

1961 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1959 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1958 Delhi Silpi Chakra, New Delhi

1956 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1955 Delhi Silpi Chakra, Freemasons Hall, 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, in 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 Indian Art, San José Art Museum, San José

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 & Satire, Gallery Threshold, New Delhi

2010-11 A Collection, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai

2010 The Living Insignia, Gallery Ensign, New Delhi

2010 Modern Folk: The Folk Art Roots 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; The Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR)

2009 Tracing Time, Bodhi Art, Mumbai

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

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

2008 Freedom 2008: Sixty Years After India's Independence, Center for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata

2007-08 From Everyday To The Imagined: Modern Indian Art, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore and at the Museum of Art, 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 Show an Act of Art II, Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai

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

2005 Remembering Bhupen, Gallery Chemould, 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 Tryst With Destiny: Art from Modern India 1947-97, Singapore

1996 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1996 Art 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), Kolkata

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, UK

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

PARTICIPATIONS

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

Transition 2013-14, 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

National Portfolio of Engraving 2010, Marvel Art Gallery, Ahmedabad

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

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

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

2008 Harvest 2008, The Stainless Gallery, New Delhi

1996 Contemporary Indian Paintings, Sotheby's, New York

1995 Seven Contemporary Indian Painters, Gallery le Monde de l’Art, Paris

1988 Indian Festival, Tokyo

1987 Indian Festival, Moscow

1987 Coup de Coeur, Geneva

1987 Kala Yatra, Bangalore

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

1984 Kala Yatra, Bangalore, 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 Biennial of Sao Paulo, Brazil

1979 Exhibition of Asian Artists, Part I, Japan

1976 Biennial Mention, France

1975 3rd International Triennial, New Delhi

1971 Indian Art, Tehran, Iran

1968 First International Triennial, New Delhi

1966 Exhibition of Indian Art, Ghent, Belgium

1965 Art Now in India, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle

1965 Commonwealth Arts Festival, London

1964 Exhibition of Textile Paintings, Murals, Woven Tapestries, New York World's Fair, New York

1964 Tokyo Biennial, Japan

1961 Sao Paulo Biennial

1956 Three young artists from abroad, Hitchin

HONORS AND AWARD

2012 Padma Vibhushan, Government of India

2006 Padma Bhushan, Government of India

2005 Lifetime Achievement Award, Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata

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

2001 Wins Krishti Puraskar, Kerala

2001 Manaviyam Ravi Varma Award, Government of Kerala

2000 Jadunath Sarkar Gold Medal, Asian Society, Kolkata

2000 Abanindra Puraskar, Calcutta

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

1994 Shiromani Puraskar, Calcutta

1991 Gagan - Aban - Puraskar, Visvabharati, Santiniketan

1980 Kalidas Samman, Government of Madhya Pradesh

1975 Padma Shri, Government of India

1968 Gold Medal, First International Triennial, New Delhi

1966 Scholarship, J D Rockefeller III Fund, USA

1965 National Study Award, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

Maharashtra State Award 1961

1961 Medallion of Honorable Mention, Sao Paulo Biennial

1959 Bombay Art Society, Mumbai

1957 Governor's Award, Bombay Art Society, Mumbai

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