ArtsBespoke

The Artists of the House · 09

J. M. S. Mani

1949 to 2021 · Bangalore

Known for the Badami Series, thickly painted scenes of everyday people with bananas, flowers and roosters, inspired by the town of Badami.

BadamiRural lifeHampiAbstractionMother and childBadamiRural lifeHampiAbstractionMother and childBadamiRural lifeHampiAbstractionMother and childBadamiRural lifeHampiAbstractionMother and child
Born
1949
Died
2021
Birthplace
Bangalore
Medium
Oil with impasto, Watercolour, Etching, Printmaking, Sculpture, Mixed media

J. M. S. Mani, also written as J. M. Subramani, was a painter from Karnataka, born in Bangalore in 1949. In 1974 he began his training under R. M. Hadapad at the Ken School of Art, part of the Kuvempu Kala Sanstha, and completed a diploma in drawing and painting there. He later taught at the school and retired as its principal in 2007.

He is best known for the Badami series, inspired by the hometown of his teacher, and for his Mother and Child series, landscapes and views of Hampi. His work is described as earthy and vivid, with forceful strokes and dark skinned figures, joining Indian subjects with Western formalism. He received the Karnataka State Award in 2006 and held solo exhibitions in India, Hong Kong, London, Switzerland and New York. He died in 2021.

A life, dated

AB / TIMELINE

  1. 1949

    Born in Bangalore as J. M. Subramani.

  2. 2006

    Received the Karnataka State Award.

  3. 2007

    Retired as Principal of the Ken School of Art, where he had also studied.

  4. 2018

    A show of his work was curated by Joobi Yohannan at Time and Space gallery, Bengaluru.

  5. 2021

    A mini retrospective of his work was held in February at the MKF Museum of Art.

  6. 2021

    Died in June.

  7. 2023

    The retrospective Badami and Beyond was shown at Kynkyny Gallery, Bengaluru.

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Works from the house

AB / WORKS

Thota Vaikuntam, Telangana lady, 2004: a seated woman with an olive-green face, red bindi, stacked gold bangles and a black sari dotted with white, on a cream ground.

Figures & portraits

Telangana lady

Thota Vaikuntam. A woman of Telangana sits close to the front of the picture, drawn in flat, confident shapes.

A square Kalamkari style painting: a teal green face in profile with a white tilak; inside it Shri Krishna Ji plays the flute among cows, with devotees at upper left, a white paisley panel and a brown feather panel at the right.

Devotional & narrative

Krishna in profile, turquoise and gold

Ramesh Gorjala. A teal green face in profile, the eye lit with gold, rises beside a white paisley panel and a brown feather panel.

Kiran, The Buddha between flame and cloud: a square painting of a grey Buddha head and shoulders beside a red panel, with a glowing flame at the lower left and dark storm clouds above.

Devotional & narrative

The Buddha between flame and cloud

Kiran. A calm, closed-eyed Buddha, painted in cool greys with a finely modelled head of tight curls, sits at the right in an olive-gold panel.

M. F. Husain, Women dancing before a yellow moon: a framed print of five women with raised arms dancing before a great yellow moon over water, with a boat, two small elephants and a tree hung with cloths.

Figures & portraits

Women dancing before a yellow moon

M. F. Husain. Five women, drawn in loose, flowing black line and washes of grey, dance with raised arms before a great yellow moon on a dark ground.

All works Abstract Figures Devotional Landscape Ravi Varma Press stones