Artwork
Fantasy
Fantasy is a paint painting by K. Ramanujam. It dates from 1960 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The canvas depicts a temple courtyard dominated by a central pagoda, flanked by two vertical poles.
About this work
Overview
The canvas depicts a temple courtyard dominated by a central pagoda, flanked by two vertical poles. The space teems with numerous small, winged beings each bearing a trident, creating a dense, mythic atmosphere. In the lower foreground the painter inserts his own likeness, engaged in dialogue with one of the enigmatic figures, while a tiny gondola drifts on a shallow pool at his feet.
Subject & Meaning
The composition blends sacred architecture with fantastical creatures, suggesting a convergence of ritual and imagination. The presence of the artist’s self‑portrait conversing with a winged figure hints at a personal negotiation with the mythic realm, while the floating gondola introduces a subtle, perhaps autobiographical, element of travel or transition within the sacred setting.
Technique & Style
Executed in a precise yet imaginative manner, the work employs a clear linear arrangement of architectural elements contrasted with the fluid, almost decorative rendering of the winged figures. The palette balances muted temple tones with brighter accents on the tridents and the gondola, emphasizing the interplay between the real and the fantastical.
History & Provenance
His works are held in several Indian institutions, including the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi and the Lalit Kala Academy in Madras.
Created by K. Ramanujam, born in Madras in 1941, the painting reflects motifs recurrent throughout his oeuvre. Ramanujam, who studied at the Madras School of Arts and Crafts despite a learning disability, exhibited internationally at the 1965 Commonwealth Arts Festival in London. His works are held in several Indian institutions, including the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi and the Lalit Kala Academy in Madras.
Legacy
Ramanujam’s integration of personal portraiture within mythic scenes contributed to a distinctive narrative approach in mid‑20th‑century Indian painting. Though his career was brief—he died in Chennai in 1973—his paintings, murals for the Hotel Connemara, and presence in major collections continue to inform discussions of contemporary Indian visual culture.
Artist & collection
Artist
K. Ramanujam’s paintings live in a quiet, dreamlike space between the 1960s and 1980s. In *Fantasy*, flat planes of color and gentle linework conjure everyday scenes made strange—an open window, a lone tree, a figure…
