About
My resources for painting are in line and form: Jam concerned about what is on the other side of the line. When one draws a line in space, there is naturally a deviation from one end to the other and spaces thus created by the line allow me to discover the forms, 'says Santhanaraj, a senior artist. The linear quality of his works has inspired many students in the college of Arts and Crafts. Madras where he was first a student, then a teacher and finally the principal before he retired in 1990. Between 1976 and 1978, he worked as Professor at the Kerala College of Fine Art. He came back to Madras after winning the Kerala State Award for painting in 1978.
"When starting with a line one starts with nothing fundamentally, but if one is aware of the subconscious within oneself, then one gets into consciousness of the one's action, where one discovers the forms, which could turn out to be anything from ordinary things to something very beautiful like a peacock or a woman. This consciousness is a kind of applause for one's creativity. Anything which inspires you optically is identified in this non objective approach. I operate the space through the lines without any inhibition. When the forms occurring in the subconscious come to the conscious level and I feel pleasedo with them, I confirm them. Nothing seems to be as interesting as desperately wanting to do something which is yet to be discovered. It is like travelling to discover something yet to be found useful: little by little I add to the voyage of line to achieve awareness: I go on exploiting the space by twisting, turning back or going in one or another direction: something which already. exists deep down in my mind is directing me and I discover the form and when I find it acceptable then I conserve it and proclaim that I have drawn something, say a tree or a human being or a set of forms, none of which is preconceived."
Santhanaraj asserts that he hates the comfort of escapism, which is what he calls similarity between two works. Then creativity is lost." I would not attempt anything which is not a fresh thought. My mind feels quite empty always and I am ready to start working anytime. "For instance a circle is universal. But when he draws it, at that particular moment it may mean a ball, a fruit or even a head. Depending on that he adds on the details. It was fascinating to watch him draw. Even when he draws a face he first draws the eyes, then he moves on to a different corner of the paper and draws a leaf or a stone and then he comes back to the face to draw the lips: but the finished composition is quite something unexpected not only for the onlooker but even for himself, says Santhanaraj. It is a question of discharging his emotions comfortably. He follows the same method in his paintings too. He prefers to spread the canvas on the ground and keep moving around it and paint sitting on the floor.
"Colour is another no-objective resource. Colour is baptised by the influence of the atmosphere. It is the atmosphere and the quality of light which exposes us to the colour. Colour is extremely stimulating to me, it is the greatest intoxication for me."
Rembrandt has been his inspiration;" he was an angel of light," declares Santhanaraj. "No one has surpassed the purity of light that he could achieve though he lived in the 16th Century. Light plays a major role in any of his paintings: he was able to create every texture like the luminosity of the eye, the age of the skin, the clothes or the metal of the jewellery perfectly because he was absolutely~ sure of the light," he adds. Santhanaraj did not just admire Rembrandt but was almost obsessed with his art. But he decided he could not forever be under the shadow of the great Dutch giant but had to discover something for himself.
There was no point in just learning the skills from a person without any substance from inside. It was then that he decided to take to space converted colours and lines converted towards forms. He started painting colour after colour, creating varied textures, totally non objective, without any subject matter. Thus were born "Symphony' in yellow", Symphony in red" and so on and sometimes it was white also. Then he pasted apiece of thread on the canvas and painted over it in trying to understand texture and this was accepted in the First Triennale of India.
He paints with brush and kinfe, even with his fingers and finds that at times fingers are more useful. He chooses according to the desired texture. "Unbelievable experience of seeing things optically has become part of my life . When I paint these thoughts appear before me visually -- I have seen this tree, the river bed and so on, "declares Santhanaraj. Thus seem to emerge the various components of his compositions.
He admired his teachers Roy Chowdhury, K.C.S. Panikker and Danapal, and claims that they inspired him towards line. He admires the aesthetic sense of anyone and says that aesthetic is the resource for the hungry spirit.
He would tell Panikker that "a line is a line, it is universal" but Panikker, who was very proud of the Indian heritage and culture, would reply that there was still something special which characterised an Indian line. Says Santhanaraj, "the Europeans depend totally on reality, they believe in optical definition. But we believe in the definition of inner feelings and hence we must definitely break away from reality . We are more metaphysical in our approach and not limited by optical reality. Now many great European artists realise that India is the cradle of great thing. Now I understand, after years of experience, that Panikker was right, that there is something Indian even in a line. "He feels that Cezanne was the person who broke the light in a flat manner without depending much on shades: it was a kind of powerful revolution, which came three hundred years after Rembrandt.
Another artistic facet of Santhanaraj is his expertise in portraiture, both painting and sculpture. Though he did not study sculpture, he understood it as art in round form while painting was flat. His portrait sculptures of Birla at the sky theatre of the planetarium and Karumuthu Thiagarajan Chettiar at the bank of Madurä were well appreciated but there was no follow-up to these by art lovers. He is rather resentful of the fact that he is not well recognised in Madras. He narrated an interesting episode -- when Kamraj was the Chief Minister he was in search of a good portrait painter to paint the likeness of Salem Vijayaragavachariar. While he got no answer here, he was told in Delhi, after enquiries at the Lalit Kala Akadenii, that Santhanaraj at the Madras College of Art and Crafts was an expert. On his return to Madras, Kamraj invited the artist home and commissioned the portrait and expressed surprise that his name was recommended not in Madras but in Delhi. Justifiably proud of his talent and skills he does not want to go around seeking patronage.
How did take to art? He was a troublesome child and to quieten him his mother used to draw simple animal figures and engage his attention. He did not study beyond the fifth standard but used to draw and paint small pictures and sell them. He happened to see the works of Roy Chowdhury and Panikker in some journals and ran away to Madras from his native Thiruvannamalai and met Panikker. When the latter found out that the Santhanaraj was only eleven years old he sent him back saying that he could not be admitted in the school of Arts before he was sixteen. He was heartbroken and moved around like a vagabond. He hated going to school and feels today that our education system is mere bookish knowledge and not practical. When he went back to Madras after he turned sixteen, he was admitted as a special case, even though he had not finished his schooling; in fact he was directly admitted into second year class after the entrance test. He recalls with gratitude how Panikker took care of him, though he might have had a difference of opinion with his mentor in terms of art. At the end of the six years course he passed out winning a gold medal in 1953. Then he won Government of India scholarship meant for post graduation and went on to win the first National Scholarship, 1954-56. He won the National Award twice in 1957 and 1962. The Government of Tamilnadu State award reached him in 1981. He received the "Kalai Chemmal" title in 1987 and the "Kalimamani" was awarded in 1995 by the Government of Tamilnadu. He was a commissioner for paintings for the Brazil Triennale, 1988.
Many of today's leading artists, who were Santhanaraj's students, continue to admire his work, particularly in the linear mode. He himself appreciates his friends and fellow artist. Antony Doss, and his talent and in fact used to live with Doss family during his student days.
- Lakshmi Venkataraman,The Hindu, Sunday, July 28, 1996
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