G Raman

Background

G Raman was born in 1942 in Chennai and trained at the Government College of Arts & Crafts, Chennai, completing his diploma in Fine Arts in 1967. He has spent his entire life in the same Chennai house he grew up in, which has doubled as his studio for over four decades.

Over his career, Raman has received around 29 awards, including three international honours, along with a Regional Lalit Kala Akademi Scholarship and a Senior Fellowship from the Government of India. His work has been exhibited across India and internationally, and is held in collections including the Birla Academy of Art in Kolkata, the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi, and the Hyderabad Museum.

Style

Raman's paintings are closely associated with the Cholamandal school of Madras — a movement that reworked traditional Indian motifs into a modern visual language. His signature approach involves an undercoat of black paint, over which he builds dense, lace-like white linework, finished with bursts of bright, often fluorescent colour. The effect is intricate and highly patterned, rewarding close, unhurried viewing.

His subjects are drawn mainly from Hindu mythology and village life, though he has also explored Christian imagery in some works. Figures, deities, and everyday South Indian scenes recur throughout his body of work, rendered with the same ornamental, almost textile-like density.

At Art Le Stay

Several of G Raman's paintings are part of our on-site collection. You can view them, with sizes and indicative pricing, on our Art Gallery page.