"All visual arts are primarily based on visual facts and our responses to them."
K. G. Subramanyan, the short form of Kalpati Ganapathi Subramanyan, was born in 1924, in Kerala,
in a Tamil Brahmin family. Known lovingly as Manida, he was not only an eminent artist, but a
teacher, writer, philosopher of art who worked with all art forms and mediums. His versatility
extended to being a painter, muralist, print-maker, relief sculptor, and designer.
He was a nationalist who took part in the Quit India Movement of ’42 that changed the course of his
life. Freed he joined Santiniketan Kala Bhavan to actively be with nature and living tradition,
incorporating innovation, for necessary change, through the practice of visual arts; as a student first
and then as a teacher.
K.G. Subramanyan visited Santiniketan to study in Kala Bhavan, Viswa Bharati University in the year
1944 under the tutelage of such pioneers of modern Indian art as Nandlal Bose, Benode Behari
Mukherjee, and Ramkinkar Baij and studied there till 1948. In 1951 he became a lecturer at
the Faculty of Arts in M.S University, in Baroda.
Subramanyan did further studies at Slade School of Art, London. He continued painting and teaching
over the next few decades, and was appointed a fellow of the National Lalit Kala Akademi in 1985,
and a Christensen Fellow at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford, in 1987-88. Subramanyan also served as
Dean at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M. S. University, Baroda, and in 1989 was appointed Professor
Emeritus at Santiniketan.
He has had numerous solo and group exhibitions, and participated in several major Biennales and
Triennales. In 1966 Subramanyan was awarded the John D. Rockfeller III Fund Fellowship. In
recognition of his varied contributions to the development of Indian art he was awarded the Shiromani
Kala Puraskar by the Government of India in 1994. A retrospective exhibition of his work was held in
2003 at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi and Mumbai.
Subramanyan was awarded the Padma Shri in 1975, Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan by
the Government of India in 2006 and 2012 respectively. At the age of 92, he passed away in Vadodara
in June 2016.
A great artist, a revolutionary, a friend, philosopher and a guide to his students and a shaper of the
Indian art form KG Subramanyan will always hold an endearing space in the hearts of all those who
were privileged to know him.
K.G. Subramanyan
"All visual arts are primarily based on visual facts and our responses to them."
K. G. Subramanyan, the short form of Kalpati Ganapathi Subramanyan, was born in 1924, in Kerala, in a Tamil Brahmin family. Known lovingly as Manida, he was not only an eminent artist, but a teacher, writer, philosopher of art who worked with all art forms and mediums. His versatility extended to being a painter, muralist, print-maker, relief sculptor, and designer. He was a nationalist who took part in the Quit India Movement of ’42 that changed the course of his life. Freed he joined Santiniketan Kala Bhavan to actively be with nature and living tradition, incorporating innovation, for necessary change, through the practice of visual arts; as a student first and then as a teacher.
K.G. Subramanyan visited Santiniketan to study in Kala Bhavan, Viswa Bharati University in the year 1944 under the tutelage of such pioneers of modern Indian art as Nandlal Bose, Benode Behari Mukherjee, and Ramkinkar Baij and studied there till 1948. In 1951 he became a lecturer at the Faculty of Arts in M.S University, in Baroda.
Subramanyan did further studies at Slade School of Art, London. He continued painting and teaching over the next few decades, and was appointed a fellow of the National Lalit Kala Akademi in 1985, and a Christensen Fellow at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford, in 1987-88. Subramanyan also served as Dean at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M. S. University, Baroda, and in 1989 was appointed Professor Emeritus at Santiniketan.
He has had numerous solo and group exhibitions, and participated in several major Biennales and Triennales. In 1966 Subramanyan was awarded the John D. Rockfeller III Fund Fellowship. In recognition of his varied contributions to the development of Indian art he was awarded the Shiromani Kala Puraskar by the Government of India in 1994. A retrospective exhibition of his work was held in 2003 at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi and Mumbai. Subramanyan was awarded the Padma Shri in 1975, Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India in 2006 and 2012 respectively. At the age of 92, he passed away in Vadodara in June 2016.
A great artist, a revolutionary, a friend, philosopher and a guide to his students and a shaper of the Indian art form KG Subramanyan will always hold an endearing space in the hearts of all those who were privileged to know him.