After R. K. Laxman

‘[What] Rabindranath Tagore is to Indian literature and [M. F. Husain] to Indian art, [R. K.] Laxman is to Indian cartooning’.

(‘Letters to the editor,’ Financial Express, 28 January 2015, https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor-51/35726/)

Cartoonist and illustrator R. K. Laxman began his long-term vocation at The Times of India in 1947, the year of Independence. It was at the Times that Laxman’s iconic ‘Common Man’ was born, a cartoon figure celebrated by millions for being just that, an ordinary man who faced the same daily trials and tribulations as his readers. Through cartoons like the ‘Common Man’, Laxman was able to provide a humorous visual commentary on the social, economic and political turmoil of his nation. 

The current work, a depiction of statesman Winston Churchill, exhibits the distinctive playful style of the cartoonist. The work incorporates Churchill's favourite pastimes in one image - painting, writing, bricklaying and his love for the French Riviera. Laxman is known to have worked with OGALE, and the company embossed his works on metal and glass.