From freedom fighter to art colossus: Remembering KG Subramanyan at 100

The year 2024 is rather an eventful one for art anniversaries as it marks the centenary of some heavyweights of modern Indian art. The ones that are well-known include FN Souza, Ram Kumar, KG Subramanyan, Mohan Samant and Arup Das (the list is not complete and I may have missed some important names).

Some of these names, especially Souza, don’t need any introduction, even to the lay followers of art, but some others do. In this column this week, I am going to write about KG Subramanyan, a colossus of modern Indian art more popularly known as Mani Da, who, however, must be given wider currency among all those interested in knowing about Indian art.

Who was KG Subramanyan?

Subramanyan was born in a Tamil family in Kuthuparamba, Kerala, on February 15, 1924, and went to the Presidency College in then Madras to study economics. It was a tumultuous time for the subcontinent, as the struggle for independence had reached a crescendo. The young Subramanyan joined the freedom struggle, was imprisoned and barred from government colleges.

This proved to be a turning point in the young man’s life as he seemed to have finally been veered towards the road that would go on to make him one of modern India’s most important artists. He joined Kala Bhavana at the Viswa Bharati University, Santiniketan, in 1944, where he would train under towering figures such as Nandalal Bose, Benode Bihari Mukherjee and Ramkinkar Baij, and become a painter, a sculptor and a muralist; Subramanyan was also an author, a poet and an art theoretician.

Subramanyan is as much associated with Santiniketan, as with Baroda, or perhaps more with the latter. After his studies, he shifted to M S University, Baroda, to teach, which he would do from 1951-1959 and again from 1961 to 1980; Baroda became his home even though he travelled to paint and had teaching stints at several other places.

His importance lies in the path he walked to create a truly Indian idiom of modern art, an act that was being attempted in different ways by different artists in different parts of the country—as is obvious, this was the time when India was breaking free of colonial shackles completely, not just politically, but in every sphere of life, including the arts and culture. Subramanyan utilised traditional vocabulary and techniques of art and contemporized them in his unique language that became his signature, easily recognisable by any follower of Indian art. Around the same time, Jamini Roy was forging a similar destiny in Bengal, the Progressive Artists Group was following the same path in Bombay, and KCS Paniker was following the exact same trajectory in Madras.

Influenced by the traditional arts of India, Subramanyan gave a unique contemporary twist to mythological themes and characters, and brought alive common, every day characters with vigour and intensity in his works. His year-long stay in the US on John D Rockefeller III Fellowship in 1966 added a new edge to his work, while from the 1980s, he started incorporating elements from glass painting in his oeuvre. A popular teacher, he was an inspiration to several well-known artists of India today, whether students at MS University, Baroda, where Subramanyan taught, or scores of others who reached his doors seeking guidance. He passed away in Baroda on June 29, 2016.

The Master at the Markets

Increasingly in this column, I am writing about artists who have not yet been given their just due at the markets, because that’s how it should be. This particular write-up too follows the theme. KG Subramanyan stands colossal on the firmament of modern Indian art, yet he deserves far more than the markets have intended so far. At the outset, I would like to mention that the works by KG Subramanyan appear at the top-notch annual auctions of South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art by Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Saffronart fairly regularly, though the frequency is not comparable to those by other well-known masters. I sincerely hope it gets there sometime soon.

However, whenever his works—paintings, wooden toys, sculptures, painted terracotta works, etc.—appear at the auctions, they almost always fetch prices way above the pre-auction estimates.

The work which remains one of the most expensive by the artist sold at the auctions is his 2000 oil on canvas, Mask, Icon, Mount, Mascot, which sold for $185,000 (approx. Rs 1.5 crore at current exchange rates) at a Sotheby’s auction in March 2013. That was way above its pre-auction estimate of $40,000 – $60,000 (approx. Rs 33.2 lakh – Rs 49.8 lakh at current exchange rates). Among other works by Subramanyan that have fetched high prices at the auctions are: Padmini, a 2002 acrylic on canvas, which sold for $80,500 (approx. Rs 66.8 lakh at current rates) at a Sotheby’s auction in September 2008, against an estimate of $60,000 - $80,000 (approx. Rs 49.8 lakh – Rs 66.4 lakh at current exchange rates). Then, there’s an Untitled acrylic on canvas that sold for $72,000 (approx. Rs 59 lakh at current rates) at a Christie’s auction in September 2006. The pre-auction estimates for this work ranged from

$25,000 - $35,000 (approx. Rs 20.74 lakh – Rs 29.04 lakh at current exchange rates). Yet another Untitled work, an acrylic on board, sold at another Christie’s auction in 2013 at Rs 27.5 lakh at a pre-auction estimate of Rs 4 lakh to Rs 6 lakh.

Like his paintings, his wooden toys too have sold well at auctions. An example is an Untitled wooden toy from the early years of the artist’s career, which sold for Rs 6.28 lakh at Saffronart’s Summer Online Auction in June 2022. At a recent sale, Saffronart’s Winter Live Auction in December 2023, Subramanyan’s gouache on board work from 1990, titled Mother and Child, fetched Rs 17.92 lakh against a pre-auction estimate of Rs 9.96 lakh – Rs 14.94 lakh.As is evident from this cross-section of Subramanyan’s works at the auctions, there is a healthy demand for his art, and buyers often always bid well for what is on offer. There is no reason why the era-defining art of this revered artist cannot find its rightful place in the art market. He is a beloved of the art world and it would be a fitting tribute to his artistic acumen to be toasted by the market as well.