K. G. Subramanyan (1924 – 2016) was a multifaceted artist. He was recognised not only as a painter, muralist and a printmaker but also as a scholar and a teacher of art. Subramanyan grew up in Kerala and Madras at a time when theosophy and nationalist swadeshi sentiments dominated India. He was imprisoned by the British for taking part in the famous 1942 Quit India Movement. On his release, his family sent him to Santiniketan, near Calcutta to pursue his interest in art at Kala Bhavan. This was a liberating experience for the young artist. Under the tutelage of eminent artists like Nandalal Bose, Benode Behari Mukherjee and Ramkinkar Baij, he learnt to acknowledge three basic concepts on which to base his art – ‘Nature, Tradition and Individuality.’ These ideals were to stay with K. G. Subramanyan despite his exposure to Western Modernism.

He was an inspirational teacher at Kala Bhavana, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan and M.S. University, Baroda.