K. G. Subramanyan

K. G. Subramanyan (Born 1924) is a renowned Painter, Sculptor and muralist. Presidency College, Madras is his alma mater where he studied economics. He was greatly influenced by Gandhian philosophy and he participated in Indian freedom struggle with full enthusiasm for which he was also imprisoned.

During British rule, he was even restricted from taking admission in government colleges. In 1944 he went to Shantiniketan to study in Kala Bhavan (Art Faculty of Visva Bharti University). It proved to be a turning point of his art career and he studied there till 1948.

In Santiniketan he came into intimate contact with Nandalal Bose, Benodebehari Mukherjee, and Ramkinkar Baij who sensitized him to the requisites of a national modernism.

It was their influence which persuaded him to look art as response to social and personal needs for communication and expression. In 1981, he became the first artist to be awarded the Kalidas samman by the Government of Madhya Pradesh. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2012