Kerala people mourn the loss of artists Namboothiri and adore the legacy of a great illustrator that covered the elegant periods of notable literary works of giants writers. The period illustrated by Artist Namboothiri is the time of serialising the great writers’ magnum opus in prominent Malayalam literature weekly’s. Artist Namboothiri is always remembered for the illustrations done for the literary works by writers and their characters.
After the diploma courses from the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai, Artist Namboothiri joined Mathrubhumi in 1960, and he stayed there till 1982 and did many illustrations for classical Novels, which brought a modern ambience to Malayalam literature. Artists Namboothiri works for Kalakaumudi and Samakalika Malayalam Vaarika during the publication boom. Namboothiri’s illustration career starts with the works of Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai (1912-1999), Jnapith laureate and legendary and celebrated writer in Malayalam literature. Most of the Thakazhi (popularly known as) are accompanied by artist Nambothiri’s illustration. The air of Thakazhi’s work is the lives of the oppressed classes in Alappuzha. Readers of these remarkable serialised novels remembered these characters with drawings. Namboorthiris’ sketches in the books of other celebrated writers like Kesavadev, Uroob, S. K. Pottekkatt, and Edasseri Govindan Nair are praised and much remembered by the readers.
The most important works of Namboothiri are the illustrations for the classic Malayalam fiction of V.K.N. and M T Vasudevan Nair, both celebrated, praised and impacted in Kerala society. Line drawing is the niche of Artist Namboothiri, which carried him in readers’ minds with their favourite characters. He used to choose people from daily life to sketch the fictional character. Namboothiri brings the fictional character into the soil of reality, letting readers engage them. Namboothiri studied Chola and Pallava sculptures from Mahabalipuram and sketched them in Ajanta and Ellora before collaborating with M. T Vasudevan Nair’s praised character Bhima in Randamoozham. Another celebrated writer in Malayalam, V.K.N., adored Namboothiri for drawing for his characters, especially for Payyans.
An artist can cooperate with writers, actors and film directors and associate with them equally. Artist Namboothiri is the one who makes company with Malayalam writers, like M.T Vasudevan Nair, V.K.N, and many others, and directors like, G Aravindan, Shaji N Karun, P Padmarajan, and actors like Mohanlal. He stands his position in socio-cultural settings in Malayali aesthetics. He was a contemporary of many artists like M V Devan and many others. Still, Namboothiri is the one who used the possibility of drawing to reach out to the commoner visual language.
Namboothiri used to draw the local landscape of many historical places frequently in renowned monthly in Malayalam that helps to familiarise the local culture of a location. These illustrations become evidence of geographical areas in time, and the transformations that occurred in between these are also portrayed. Malayali society had many icons to drive the cultural outgrowths at the time; artist Nabmoothiri is one of them, most celebrated as their cultural legacy.
Artist Namboothiri: Doyen of Drawings, Sketched ‘Malayali Life’ Passed Away: Click here
Krispin Joseph PX, a poet and journalist, completed an MFA in art history and visual studies at the University of Hyderabad.
