Remember Ponniyin Selvan illustrator Maniam? A look through his works

Remember Ponniyin Selvan illustrator Maniam? A look through his works

A simplistic recreation of one of Italian artist Fortunino Matania’s pieces, now framed on a paper yellowed with time, was what earned Loganathan aka Maniam Selven his father, Maniam’s approval.

As the only son of one of the most celebrated illustrators of Tamil publishing, this marked a pivotal point in Maniam Selven’s long career. Even today, his eyes turn moist as memories of his father take over. “He never insisted that I become an artist. But he exposed me to artists and perspectives that inspired me,” he says.

Maniam Selven and his children are also the custodians of a body of work that can single-handedly etch out Maniam’s illustrative legacy which was recently on display at Lalit Kala Akademi. In between conversations, he repeatedly says, “Without him, I won’t be here.”

Though Maniam lived a short life of 44 years, he had a rich career spanning 28 years of exceptional illustrative work that evolved over time, and through influences. While he was a student of the College of Arts, Egmore, he was asked by author Kalki Krishnamurthy if he could work with him as a full-time artist for his new magazine.

“This decision that thaatha took was pivotal for what he did later. Under the ‘Kalki University’, he was inspired to create Indian art without being distracted by other perspectives,” says the grand daughter of Maniam, Subashini Balasubramaniam, also a practising artist.

This was a time when it was important for the nation to revive its own culture and history. Kalki, the magazine, in its initial years had a distinct voice that influenced the mass post-Independence psyche.

Throughout the display, one can trace aspects of Maniam — his development as an artist, his varying levels of expertise, and observations from his travels. Bits, pieces and visual takeaways from Hampi, Ajanta, Ellora, and Badami caves are omnipresent in his fine line depictions of sculptures, and mythological scenes. “Another notable thing about his paintings is that they depict the background in as much detail as the main characters. One gets a sense of the location and the people there,” adds Subhashini.