Important Notice

A versatile artist and prolific scholar, K.G. Subramanyan uses his in-depth knowledge of various artistic traditions to create fantastical images that are universal even though they draw heavily from the mythology and folk art and craft traditions of India. It is this distinctive language that “…imposes an open-endedness on his narratives. Tantalisingly ambivalent to the viewers, it encourages them to enter into an imaginative interaction with... A versatile artist and prolific scholar, K.G. Subramanyan uses his in-depth knowledge of various artistic traditions to create fantastical images that are universal even though they draw heavily from the mythology and folk art and craft traditions of India. It is this distinctive language that “…imposes an open-endedness on his narratives. Tantalisingly ambivalent to the viewers, it encourages them to enter into an imaginative interaction with his work and to open up the narrative from different contact points” (R. Siva Kumar, K.G. Subramanyan: A Retrospective, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, 2003, p. 39).

In the present lot, the artist directly references Peter Paul Reuben’s seventeenth century masterpiece, Massacre of the Innocents, drawing on art historical and biblical references perhaps to express his anger and grief at the religious violence of 2002 that laid waste to the state of Gujarat, where he currently lives and works.

Read More
Artist Profile
Other works of this artist in: this auction  |  entire site