K. G. Subramanyan

Hacienda Gallery, Mumbai
Purchased from India Art Fund, Mumbai.

Good overall condition, as viewed.
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An art historian, scholar, prolific writer, teacher, sculptor and distinguished painter, KG Subramanyan trained and taught at the the famed Kala Bhavan of Santiniketan, founded by Rabindranath Tagore. At Santiniketan, Subramanyan was mentored by artistic innovators such as Nandalal Bose and Ramkinkar Baij. Deeply influenced by indigenous Bengali artistic traditions including textile patas and Kalighat-style painting, Subramanyan’s method of intricate ornamentation draws heavily from Indian tribal art as well as traditional Indian court painting. This vibrant fusion of cultural stimuli results in fabled, fantastic imagery, both modern and indigenous—indicative of much of the pioneering work which came out of Santiniketan in the early to mid-20th century.

Compare the present work, The Sniper and the Cloud, in composition, size and palette to the vivid, large-scale canvas by Subramanyan from the historic Amaya Collection, Mask, Icon, Mount, Mascot (Sotheby’s New York, March 19, 2013, lot 28). In these two works, one finds the narrative fields divided by vertical color planes, and populated by mythical beasts, fantastical foliage, and iconographical elements from classical Indian sculpture.  

Also compare the treatment of beasts, human figures and foliate elements in The Sniper and the Cloud to two slightly earlier Subramanyan watercolors from the Herwitz Collection recently exhibited in the groundbreaking 2013 exhibition, Midnight to the Boom: Painting in India after Independence at the Peabody-Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts: The Great Show with Beasts and Goddesses (1989) and Parsi Couple (1990).

“This synthesis of narrative accessibility and formal discipline came to characterize Subramanyan’s best work,” explains Dr. Karin Zitzewitz. “Beginning in 1980, Subramanyan produced works of art that are formally and conceptually complex but also winning, playful and deeply integrated with the visual culture of his adopted homeland of West Bengal.” (K. Zitzewitz, et al, Midnight to the Boom: Painting in India after Independence, Salem, 2013, p. 114)