K. G. Subramanyan

Acquired directly from the artist in 1959 

São Paulo, Brazil, VI Biennale de São Paulo, 1961 

There is hairline craquelere in the work especially in areas of thicker impasto such as the trees where minor traces of pigment lifting are present. This painting could benefit from a light clean and consolidation. UV Light: Inspection under ultra violet light reveals retouching to black lines on two of the trees and old restoration on the upper right hand corner of the painting. The painting is brighter is reality than reproduced in the catalog illustration, especially the green areas.
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‘The importance of an artist is to be measured by the number of signs he has introduced into the language of art,” Matisse says to Aragon in 1943 (Quoted by G. Kapur, , Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, 1987 p. 3)
A renowned art historian, prolific writer, teacher, sculptor, muralist and distinguished painter, K.G. Subramanyan is conspicuously one of the pioneers of Indian Modern art. Subramanyan was born in Kerala in 1924. As was routine in the region, he received a grounding education from studying in an English school to getting introduced to world art at the young age of 13 through issues of L’Illustration, a French journal in the town library as well as those of The Modern Review which exposed him to reproductions of works of Abanindranath Tagore and Nandalal Bose (ibid., p. 49). After early studies in Madras, Subramanyan gained admission to the Visva-Bharati University at Santiniketan, where he learned from master artists Nandalal Bose, Benode Behari Mukherjee, and Ramkinker Baij, who each encouraged collaboration between fine arts and craftsmanship through collective work. 
Active for more than 65 years, and very spry at ninety-one, Subramanyan has absorbed these lessons and has translated them into his practice and teaching till date.  In his works, tradition and modernity coexist creating an inherent harmony. Influenced by popular, modern, classical and indigenous traditions, his artistic practice has always been concerned with integrating these fluid traditions and reinventing them for present purposes. As an artist, Subramanyan is known as one of the most versatile practitioners, having done works, apart from painting, in the traditions of mural- terracotta tiles as well as cement reliefs, toy and rope sculptures in wood, as well as textiles. His works often feature human figures interacting with mythological adorned creatures, symbolizing unification and a sense of community, blurring conventional divisions.
A major part of Subramanyan’s work up to the 1970s was in oils. Geeta Kapur credits veteran artist, Ramkinker Baij to be a major influence for these works, “Ramkinker, known best of all a sculptor, was also the most prolific painter in oils in Santiniketan and Subramanyan’s early paintings are virtually in direct line with his.” (ibid. p. 21) Bathers in Moonlight and Scene with Horses are prime examples of Subramanyan’s deft integration of indigenous and modern fundamentals such as Indian iconography and Euro-American modernism. “…Subramanyan uses anti-naturalistic devices, a heavy black line, for example, that welds the images and makes the picture appear a little like modernist adaptation of stained glass constructions. ….The black line that grips the image should be seen rather as a much used convention of the fifties. It is a legacy of Picasso furthered by artists loosely grouped together as late expressionists, as for example, Sutherland, Buffet and Tomayo…” (ibid., p. 27) Scene with Horses was one of the two works exhibited in the VI Biennale de São Paulo (1961) for which Subramanyan received the Medallion of Honorable Mention. In turn, Bathers in Moonlight stands out for its hybrid use of figurative and abstract elements, which became the hallmark of Subramanyan’s later works.
Subramanyan’s genius stands out in his multifaceted expertise to create unique combinations that challenge perceived notions of contemporary art, combining his skills and the subject matter to create universally appealing art. In the late 1970's, he began to experiment with the two hundred-year-old South Indian tradition of reverse painting (see lot 579).  His visual language combining ancient techniques with modern materials resulted once again in a striking and unique form.