K.V. Haridasan

‘[The] painter considered to be the pioneer of Neo-Tantric modern and contemporary art in India, K.V. Haridasan’s work is rooted in the belief that contemporary Indian art should depict and derive from specifically Indian mythological and historical principles rooted in mysticism.’ (‘KV Haridasan’, MAP Academy, Bangalore, 2022)

Born in Kerala in 1937, Haridasan is credited as a key forerunner of Neo-Tantra. A Cholamandal Artists’ Village member and graduate from the College of Arts and Crafts, Madras, he became the first painter to successfully introduce Tantric principles such as vertical lines and concentric circles into a contemporary context. Modernizing the Indian folk aesthetic to relate to the 20th century tastes of color field and abstract expressionism, this artistic project set forth a decades-long (re)exploration of Tantra in art.

Beyond Haridasan’s countless accolades, for instance, the Gold Medal from Kerala Academy (1975), the Kerala Lalit Kala Akademi Prize (2003 and 2013) and participation in the Neo-Tantra exhibition at the University of California, Los Angeles (1985), Haridasan founded an educational framework for Neo-Tantra. In 1992, he published Intimations on Art: Indian, Western, Modernity, Tradition & Tantra, a book where he navigates tradition and modernity in Indian art. Haridasan highlighted the importance of Tantra and its potential healing properties through contemporary art. The current lot embodies his lifelong commitment to the spiritual qualities that can be revealed through abstraction.