KOCHI: K V Haridasan, noted painter and winner of the Raja Ravi Varma Award, passed away in Bangalore on Sunday.
Famed as a neo-tantric artist, Haridasan was selected for the Raja Ravi Varma award in 2013, which has been instituted by the Kerala Government, for his series of paintings titled ‘Brahmasutra’. However, the 77-year old left the world without receiving the prestigious award. He will be cremated at Cholamandalam in Chennai on Monday. Haridasan had served as a professor at the College of Fine Arts, Thiruvananthapuram, and later became the principal of the college.
Born in Kannur in 1937, Haridasan did his graduation from the University of Madras. He took diploma from the School of Chennai Art and Craft. An ardent disciple of K C S Panicker, he was closely associated with the Cholamandal Artists’ Village in the 60s, the largest artists’ community in India.
Haridasan had participated in many international exhibitions, including a neo-tantra exhibition in the U.S. in 1985, as part of the India Festival UCLA. He was a special invitee to the 1991 international triennale held in New Delhi. His ‘Yantra’ series of paintings were exhibited in the British council, Chennai, and New Delhi. As part of a cultural exchange programme, he also visited Russia, Germany and France. Haridasan, who was an editor of the Art Trends Magazine, Published the book “Intimations on Art, Indian and Western”. He has been honoured by the Tamil Nadu Academy for his paintings. He also bagged the Lalit Kala Prize, instituted by the Kerala Akademi in 2003.
Haridasan was a member of the jury of the 1981 National Exhibition of Art. During the 1989-94 period, he was a member of the Lalit Kala Akademi.