Fantasy thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at Young V&A
Imagine Gallery, This is Me, West wall

Fantasy

Painting
ca. 1960 - ca. 1980 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

In this painting we see the interior of a temple courtyard, with two tall poles placed along the sides of the central pagoda. The entire space is filled with small winged figures that are armed with tridents. In the foreground, the artist has inserted his own portrait in conversation with one of the ambiguous figures. At his feet, a small gondola is floating in a small pool. The subject matter of the painting is common to many of the Ramanujam's works.

The artist was born in Madras in 1941. Despite his learning disability he studied at the School of Arts and Crafts (Madras). In 1965 he participated in the Commonwealth Arts Festival in London. Exhibitions of his work have been organized at the the Lalit Kala Academy and Mumbai. His works are held in the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, State Lalit Kala Academy, Madras and Gallery Chemould, Mumbai. The artist has also executed three mural drawings for the Hotel Connemara, (Chennai), commissioned by the architect Geoffrey Bawa. The artist died in 1973 in Chennai.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleFantasy (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Painted in oil on canvas
Brief description
Painting, 'Fantasy', by K Ramanujam, oil on canvas, India, ca. 1960-1980
Physical description
Painting, oil on canvas, the interior of a temple courtyard, with two tall poles placed either side of a central pagoda. The space is filled with small winged figures armed with tridents. In the foreground, the artist depicts himself in conversation with one of them. At his feet a diminutive gondola is floating in a small pool. The subject matter of the painting is common to many of the Ramanujam's works.
Dimensions
  • Estimate height: 12cm
  • Estimate width: 21cm
Dimensions taken from C.M. Kauffmann, Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, II. 1800-1900, London, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973
Content description
The interior of a temple courtyard, with two tall poles placed either side of a central pagoda. The space is filled with small winged figures armed with tridents. In the foreground, the artist depicts himself in conversation with one of them. At his feet a diminutive gondola is floating in a small pool.
Marks and inscriptions
Signed indistinctly on lower right.
Gallery label
K. Ramanujam created a fantasy world to help him make sense of his difficult life. In this colourful painting, he put himself right at the front of the scene – can you find him? He’s the one with a big moustache. [Young V&A, Imagine Gallery short object label] (2023)
Object history
Purchased from Mrs. Sara Abraham. Rps 84/106 and 1997/861
Subjects depicted
Summary
In this painting we see the interior of a temple courtyard, with two tall poles placed along the sides of the central pagoda. The entire space is filled with small winged figures that are armed with tridents. In the foreground, the artist has inserted his own portrait in conversation with one of the ambiguous figures. At his feet, a small gondola is floating in a small pool. The subject matter of the painting is common to many of the Ramanujam's works.

The artist was born in Madras in 1941. Despite his learning disability he studied at the School of Arts and Crafts (Madras). In 1965 he participated in the Commonwealth Arts Festival in London. Exhibitions of his work have been organized at the the Lalit Kala Academy and Mumbai. His works are held in the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, State Lalit Kala Academy, Madras and Gallery Chemould, Mumbai. The artist has also executed three mural drawings for the Hotel Connemara, (Chennai), commissioned by the architect Geoffrey Bawa. The artist died in 1973 in Chennai.
Bibliographic reference
Pictorial Space. An exhibition by G.Kapur, Lalit Kala Acedemi, Rabindra Bhavan Galleries, New Delhi, 1977-78.
Collection
Accession number
IS.82-1985

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Record createdApril 12, 2007
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