: Did you know that Karnataka’s iconic artist, K. Venkatappa, was born on June 28, 1886, and not on June 27, 1886, as it is said even at the Venkatappa Art Gallery on Kasturba Road? Researching through 38 personal diaries of Venkatappa, which are now part of the Karnataka State Archives, art historian R.H. Kulkarni has unearthed significant information previously unknown to the public. The artist’s documentation of his life in 38 diaries, which provide a day-to-day account of artistic, political and cultural developments, is a historical record of his times, says Dr. Kulkarni.
A three-day international seminar titled ‘Mysore Modernity, Artistic Nationalism and the Art of K. Venkatappa’ is ongoing at National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA). This first-of-its-kind seminar was inaugurated at Venkatappa Art Gallery on Friday. It is being conducted by a team of artists from Bengaluru, supported by NGMA, India Foundation for Arts, and the Ministry of Culture.
Art historians, artists and writers, including curator of the event Pushpamala N., historian Partha Mitter, art historian R. Nandakumar, scholar and critic Ajay Sinha, and translator and academician Chandan Gowda, are presenting papers on the painter.
Other talents
Venkatappa’s diaries also reveal other information, such as how he was inspired to become a veena exponent as a student of Government School of Art under Abanindranath Tagore, in what was then Calcutta. “Venkatappa learned from Veena Venkatagiriappa, Veena Subbanna and Veena Seshanna, and experimented on the making of the veena. He even created five kinds of veenas now on display at the gallery,” says Dr. Kulkarni. Venkatappa writes that painting, drawing, clay modelling and carpentry at the Chamarajendra Technical Institute came in handy.
