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81

K G Subramanyan

© Jyoti Bhatt

PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN, NEW DELHI

40

K G SUBRAMANYAN

(1924 ‒ 2016)

Janmashtami

Initialled twice in Tamil (lower centre); inscribed

and dated 'DIPTYCH/ K.G. SUBRAMANYAN/ 2015/

'JANMASHTAMI'' (on the reverse on both panels)

2015

Acrylic on canvas

47.5 x 96 in (120.6 x 243.7 cm)

Rs 1,50,00,000 ‒ 2,00,00,000

$ 238,100 ‒ 317,465

(Diptych)

PROVENANCE:

Acquired directly from the artist

K G Subramanyan was a painter, muralist, sculptor, printmaker, as well as a writer and illustrator of children’s books. In a constantly

evolving artistic career, Subramanyan experimented with a variety of forms, including his well‒known reverse glass and acrylic paintings

and terracotta murals. The latter, in particular, with their grid‒like compositions came to inform his painting style in later years. In the

present lot, Subramanyan constructs a scene, a seemingly non‒linear narrative, contained within vertical panels.

Janmashtami

, as the

painting is titled, celebrates the birth of Krishna. The various panels depict endearing stories and the iconography commonly associated

with the blue‒skinned god, such as Krishna playing the flute, or stealing butter.

Indian folk stories, mythic characters, and animals have been the focus of Subramanyan’s work since the 1980s, but they were no mere

illustrations or representations. “He uses them as metaphors to animate the everyday world in various ways—sometimes in celebration,

sometimes in sly irony, and sometimes in gentle indignation.” (R Sivakumar, “A Playful and Poetic Vision,”

Mythologies: K.G. Subramanyan

,

Kolkata: Galerie 88, 2013, p. 8)