b. 1935, India
d. 2024
Born in 1935 in Attingal, Kerala, A. Ramachandran graduated with a degree in Malayalam literature from Kerala University before pursuing a diploma in fine arts and crafts from Kala Bhavan, Visva University, at Santiniketan. Ramachandran is considered to be among India’s most important contemporary painters and sculptors, whose well-regarded oeuvre is informed by a deep engagement with the natural elements and the essential human condition which are most often expressed in compositions of harmonious vibrancy and aesthetic balance.
Ramachandran has been widely exhibited at important institutions, including Triveni Kala Sangam and Vadehra Art Gallery (2023); Lalit Kala Akademi, Kochi (2019); the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi (2018); the Cleveland Museum of Art, USA (2017); the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul (2013); the Art Museum of Seoul National University (2008); the Singapore Museum of Art (2007); the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi (2004), among others. He has also had several important solo shows, including at Emami Art Gallery, Kolkata (2022); Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi (2021, 2015, 2013); Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi and Kochi (2014); Grosvenor Vadehra, London (2008); Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai and New York (2007–08); and Nami Island, Korea (2005), to name a few. Important retrospective exhibitions of his work have been organized by Vadehra Art Gallery in 2004, as well as the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi, in 2003; Kumar Gallery at Art Heritage, New Delhi, and Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 1983.
A recipient of the Padma Bhushan in 2005, Ramachandran had several other prestigious awards to his credit, including the Raja Ravi Verma Puruskar in 2003 and the National Award for painting in both 1973 and 1969.
Equally proficient with large-scale murals as with intimate miniatures, Ramachandran’s contribution to public art in India is highly celebrated. His rock sculpture at Sriperumbathoor is possibly the largest commission of public art in modern India. In 1986, he was invited to Japan as one of the keynote speakers at the 20th Congress of International Board on Books for Young People, Tokyo, and the International Symposium of the Japanese Board on Books for Young People, Oita. In 1996, he participated in a workshop campaign for literacy and illustrations in Papua New Guinea as part of an international team of experts for UNESCO. Ramachandran also has several books to his credit, including Hanuman, which was acquired by the Kijo Picture Book Village, Miyazaki, Japan; Golden City, published by Sanyu-Sha, Japan; six children’s books along with his wife, Chameli, published by Thomson Press, India; as well as illustrated forty books for children written by Malayalam writers, among other notable publications.
The artist passed away in 2024 in New Delhi.