ARTICLE
Laxma Goud (b.1940)
A modernist painter and printmaker, Kalal Laxma Goud is known for his rustic figurative sketches, paintings and prints that depict rural life, eroticism and landscape.
Goud was born in Medak, Andhra Pradesh (in present-day Telangana). After receiving a diploma in drawing and painting from the Government School of Art and Architecture, Hyderabad in 1963, he began studying at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU), Baroda (now Vadodara), where he was mentored by KG Subramanyan, who taught him mural painting and printmaking. Subramanyan was also instrumental in introducing Goud to with collector Jagdish Mittal, allowing him to study a rich collection of traditional drawings. Goud also assisted Subramanyan and Gyarsilal Varma with various outdoor mural design projects, including the facade of the Department of Painting, MSU, and Gandhi Darshan, Rajghat, Delhi.
Drawn towards the works of FN Souza and MF Husain, Goud began exploring his adolescence in the village through his naturalistic compositions depicting beasts, women, birds and foliage and reflecting his experiences with rural folklore, sexuality and urban surroundings. The goat is a recurring subject and ties his work back to his childhood memory of home and the herd of goats and buffaloes bred by his family.
Goud experimented with a variety of mediums such as charcoal, watercolours, pastels, gouache, oil paints, crow quill pen and ink, textile, glass, etching, serigraph, clay, terracotta and bronze. Goud began working in intaglio, his medium of choice, soon after leaving Vadodara. Owing to his delicate handling of the medium, Goud was considered among the most proficient printmakers in Hyderabad in the 1960s.
He has also been a teacher and head of the Sarojini Naidu School of Performing Art, Fine Art and Communication, University of Hyderabad. His works have been shown at Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai (2006); Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai (2006); Aicon Gallery, New York (2007, 2010); Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi (2012); Apparao Galleries, Chennai (2014); and Gallery Sumukha, Bengaluru (2016). He received the Gagan Abani Puraskar, Visva Bharati University, Shantiniketan (2006); the Telangana State Award (2015); and the Padma Shri (2016) for his contribution to art.
At the time of writing, Goud lives and works in Hyderabad.
Bibliography
Bean, Susan. “The Art of K. Laxma Goud.” Art Alive Gallery, 2012.
Gupta, Namita. “Laxma in Retrospect: Artist Talks About His Art, Depiction of Eroticism.” Deccan Herald, June 13, 2016. https://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/books-and-art/130616/laxma-in-retrospect-artist-talks-about-his-art-depiction-of-eroticism.html.
James, Josef. “Printmaking in the Southern Region.” Lalit Kala Contemporary 39, March 1994.
Murthy, Neeraja. “A Life With Colours and Lines.” The Hindu, February 02, 2016. https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/laxma-goud-on-padma-shri-colours-and-much-more/article8183850.ece.
Osian’s Creative India Series 3 – Bombay & Baroda. March 23, 2012.
Rao, Saritha. “Artist K. Laxma Goud’s Latest Retrospective Takes Us Closer to Ourselves.” Architectural Digest, November 15, 2017.
https://www.architecturaldigest.in/content/laxma-goud-retrospective-chennai/.
Sheikh, Gulammohammed, ed. Contemporary Art in Baroda. New Delhi: Tulika, 1997.
Sunish, Lina Vincent. “An Inner Retrospective: Laxma Goud.” Art & Deal Magazine. Accessed May 20, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20161102074558/http://artanddeal.in:80/cms/?p=4840.
Thatipalli, Mallik. “New Book on Laxma Goud Examines his Life and Art Influenced by the Sexuality and Hardships of People of Telangana.” Firstpost, April 14, 2021. https://www.firstpost.com/art-and-culture/new-book-on-laxma-goud-examines-his-life-and-art-influenced-by-the-sexuality-and-hardships-of-people-of-telangana-9521351.html.
