This is an archive article published on August 24, 2018

A real guru, he always kept his links with India

The art fraternity remembers eminent sculptor and printmaker Krishna Reddy, who died in New York at the age of 93

4 min readAug 24, 2018 04:47 AM IST

Krishna Reddy has influenced thousands of art students.

As a young boy in Chittoor, he would often reproduce mythological paintings to fulfil his creative pursuits. While the imitations brought him attention in his immediate precinct, Krishna Reddy was to leave a mark in distant lands, becoming one of India’s most formidable artists, acclaimed for his experiments with a colour viscosity in printmaking and geometrical abstraction of nature. On August 22, he breathed his last in New York, his home for over 40 years now. He was 93. “With him, India has lost one of its most prominent printmakers,” says Anant Nikam, Head of Department of Graphic/Printmaking at Sir JJ School of Art, Mumbai. “I, too, selected my specialisation after interacting with him during a workshop in India in the ’80s,” adds Nikam, who was instrumental in organising a travelling exhibition of Reddy’s works in India in 2013.

Like Nikam, Reddy perhaps influenced thousands of art students. Having taught at several universities across the US — including the New York University, Ruskin College School of Fine Art and Drawing and University of Texas — Reddy is remembered as much for his own art practice as his engagements as a pedagogue. “A real guru and teacher, Krishna mentored generations in France and the US and always kept his links with India. He did many print workshops here with art students and taught many Indian artists in the influential art studio Atelier 17, including Zarina Hashmi. A gentle soul with sharp political beliefs, his roots combined Tagore and Gandhi with a good dose of the French left,” says photographer and curator Ram Rahman. He adds, “He also mentored me when I had just moved to New York and he got me to teach design at NYU. Always very generous with his time, guidance and even loans to young students, his loft was always filled with people of every continent and he made it a point to interact with black artists in the US. Bob Blackburn was one such artist he was extremely close to.”

Reddy’s initial learning ground was Santiniketan, where Nandalal Bose took him under his tutelage. “It was mastermoshai (Bose) who helped me discover the depths of nature,” Reddy reportedly stated in an interview. He wasn’t merely imitating what he saw but also discovering the organic forms in his surroundings, creating abstract images.

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Bose also guided him on how to deal with human predicament. In 1943, when the Bengal famine broke out, Bose sent his students to volunteer for assistance. The experience led Reddy to produce a series of powerful ink drawings. It was the same force that was evident in the series ‘Demonstrators’ (1968), an outcome of racial discrimination that Reddy confronted in Paris in the ’60s.
While his artistic leanings were evident early on, it was miles away from home that he was to discover the language of printmaking. Through the ’50s, he moved across London, France and Italy, studying and working with the likes of Henry Moore, Ossip Zadkine and Mario Marini. Working with printmaker Stanley William Hayter at Atelier 17 in Paris, Reddy began to experiment with colour viscosity in printmaking that revolutionalised intaglio printing.

“His unique vision was the startling combination of his pastoral nature studies from Santiniketan, with the darker cosmic view of French surrealism. His plate-making was sculptural, carved with styluses and tools into the copper,” says Rahman.
Exhibiting across the world, the Padma Shri-awardee kept returning home, to India, to conduct workshops and interact with the artist community, occasionally even showing his work in the country.

“He has inspired generations of artists and was willing to give without any expectation. We are planning a prayer meeting and hope to educate more people about his work. Unfortunately, his greatness is not known to many,” says Nikam.

Vandana Kalra

Vandana Kalra is an art critic and Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. She has spent more than two decades chronicling arts, culture and everyday life, with modern and contemporary art at the heart of her practice. With a sustained engagement in the arts and a deep understanding of India’s cultural ecosystem, she is regarded as a distinctive and authoritative voice in contemporary art journalism in India. Vandana Kalra's career has unfolded in step with the shifting contours of India’s cultural landscape, from the rise of the Indian art market to the growing prominence of global biennales and fairs. Closely tracking its ebbs and surges, she reports from studios, galleries, museums and exhibition spaces and has covered major Indian and international art fairs, museum exhibitions and biennales, including the Venice Biennale, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Documenta, Islamic Arts Biennale. She has also been invited to cover landmark moments in modern Indian art, including SH Raza’s exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the opening of the MF Husain Museum in Doha, reflecting her long engagement with the legacies of India’s modern masters. Alongside her writing, she applies a keen editorial sensibility, shaping and editing art and cultural coverage into informed, cohesive narratives. Through incisive features, interviews and critical reviews, she brings clarity to complex artistic conversations, foregrounding questions of process, patronage, craft, identity and cultural memory. The Global Art Circuit: She provides extensive coverage of major events like the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Serendipity Arts Festival, and high-profile international auctions. Artist Spotlights: She writes in-depth features on modern masters (like M.F. Husain) and contemporary performance artists (like Marina Abramović). Art and Labor: A recurring theme in her writing is how art reflects the lives of the marginalized, including migrants, farmers, and labourers. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent portfolio is dominated by the coverage of the 2025 art season in India: 1. Kochi-Muziris Biennale & Serendipity Arts Festival "At Serendipity Arts Festival, a 'Shark Tank' of sorts for art and crafts startups" (Dec 20, 2025): On how a new incubator is helping artisans pitch products to investors. "Artist Birender Yadav's work gives voice to the migrant self" (Dec 17, 2025): A profile of an artist whose decade-long practice focuses on brick kiln workers. "At Kochi-Muziris Biennale, a farmer’s son from Patiala uses his art to draw attention to Delhi’s polluted air" (Dec 16, 2025). "Kochi Biennale showstopper Marina Abramović, a pioneer in performance art" (Dec 7, 2025): An interview with the world-renowned artist on the power of reinvention. 2. M.F. Husain & Modernism "Inside the new MF Husain Museum in Qatar" (Nov 29, 2025): A three-part series on the opening of Lawh Wa Qalam in Doha, exploring how a 2008 sketch became the architectural core of the museum. "Doha opens Lawh Wa Qalam: Celebrating the modernist's global legacy" (Nov 29, 2025). 3. Art Market & Records "Frida Kahlo sets record for the most expensive work by a female artist" (Nov 21, 2025): On Kahlo's canvas The Dream (The Bed) selling for $54.7 million. "All you need to know about Klimt’s canvas that is now the most expensive modern artwork" (Nov 19, 2025). "What’s special about a $12.1 million gold toilet?" (Nov 19, 2025): A quirky look at a flushable 18-karat gold artwork. 4. Art Education & History "Art as play: How process-driven activities are changing the way children learn art in India" (Nov 23, 2025). "A glimpse of Goa's layered history at Serendipity Arts Festival" (Dec 9, 2025): Exploring historical landmarks as venues for contemporary art. Signature Beats Vandana is known for her investigative approach to the art economy, having recently written about "Who funds the Kochi-Muziris Biennale?" (Dec 11, 2025), detailing the role of "Platinum Benefactors." She also explores the spiritual and geometric aspects of art, as seen in her retrospective on artist Akkitham Narayanan and the history of the Cholamandal Artists' Village (Nov 22, 2025). ... Read More

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