THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: One painting done by the late Congress veteran and former Chief Minister, K Karunakaran, during his college days was auctioned off here on Friday by the Kerala Lalitakala Academy for an amount of Rs 5,10,000.
The painting was purchased by one Premkumar on behalf of his two clients, an NRI and a businessman.
Of the two works of the leader from the ‘life studies’ painted by him in the early 1940s as an art student in Thrissur, one was given away to Karanukaran’s daughter Padmaja Venugopal. Kerala Lalitakala Academy chairman K A Francis announced at the function that an annual award -Karunakaran Endowment Award, would be given away to a student selected for the painting in the ‘life studies.’ Inaugurating the function, Cultural Affairs Minister K C Joseph said that the paintings done by Karunakaran bring to light the lesser-known side of the veteran Congress leader who is irreplaceable in Kerala politics.
The paintings were done in Winson and Newton oil colour on art paper.
Both the works are human portraits and one of them was modelled on a rickshaw puller in Thrissur town. Both the works were handed over to the Academy by Shekar Ayenthol from his personal collection. An exhibition of cartoons and caricatures on Karunakaran drawn by leading cartoonists of the country was also held as part of the event, organised on the first death anniversary of Karunakaran. The meeting was also attended by Peethamparakurup MP.