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Photograph of Thota Vaikuntam

The Artists of the House · 29

Thota Vaikuntam

b. 1942 · Boorugupalli, Telangana

Stylised Telangana villagers, especially women, drawn in bright primary colours and likened to temple friezes.

Photograph: Mananrelia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Rural TelanganaWomenPrimary coloursVillage ritualsRural TelanganaWomenPrimary coloursVillage ritualsRural TelanganaWomenPrimary coloursVillage ritualsRural TelanganaWomenPrimary coloursVillage rituals
Born
1942
Birthplace
Boorugupalli, Telangana
Medium
Oil and acrylic painting, Charcoal on paper, Watercolour wash, Pencil

Thota Vaikuntam, born 1942 in Boorugupalli, Telangana, has spent his career painting the men and women of rural Telangana in flat saturated colour with heavy contour drawing. His figures, with their kohl lined eyes, red bindis and ornamented hair, are among the most immediately recognisable images in contemporary Indian painting.

He studied at the College of Fine Arts and Architecture in Hyderabad and at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, Baroda, where K. G. Subramanyan was an influence. He is renowned above all for his portrayal of Telangana women, and has received the Bharat Bhavan Biennale Award, the National Award and the State Award.

A life, dated

AB / TIMELINE

  1. 1942

    Born in Burugupalli, Karimnagar district, Telangana.

  2. 1970

    Received a diploma in painting from the College of Fine Arts and Architecture, Hyderabad.

  3. 1972

    Completed painting and printmaking studies at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, Baroda.

  4. 1973

    Held his first solo exhibition at Kala Bhavan, Hyderabad.

  5. 1988

    Worked as art director on the Telugu film Daasi, which received a National Award.

  6. 1993

    Received the National Award from the Lalit Kala Akademi.

With the house

1 work by Thota Vaikuntam

Each listed with its medium, size, history and price in full.

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Works from the house

AB / WORKS

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.

A square Kalamkari style painting: an ivory white face with a vaishnava tilak and a flat orange disc at the mouth, with Shri Hanuman Ji figures with folded hands climbing the right edge beside a gold mandala.

Devotional & narrative

Hanuman and the rising sun

Ramesh Gorjala. An ivory face, almost bare, takes the centre; a flat orange disc is held at its mouth and reads at once as the sun.

Kiran, A flame in the blue hour: a square abstract in deep ultramarine over a black ground, with a glowing white-and-gold flame form at the lower left and a small red-orange panel at the lower right.

Abstract

A flame in the blue hour

Kiran. A square canvas held in deep ultramarine over a heavy black ground.

All works Abstract Figures Devotional Landscape Ravi Varma Press stones