{{short description|Indian painter}} {{for|the Indian poet|Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} {{Use Indian English|date=September 2019}} {{Infobox artist | name = Akkitham Narayanan | image = Akkitham_Narayanan_face.png | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1939}} | birth_place = Kerala, India | death_date = | death_place = | movement = | field = Painter | training = | works = | spouse = | awards = {{ubl|1963 Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai Award|1965 Association of Young Painters and Sculptors Award|1966 Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai Award|1972 Cagnes-sur-Mer International Painting Festival Award|2009 Kerala Lalithakala Akademi K. C. S. Paniker Award|2017 Kerala Lalithakala Akademi Raja Ravi Varma Award}} }} '''Akkitham Narayanan''' (born 1939) is a Paris-based Indian painter from Kerala. A student of such artists as K. C. S. Paniker, D. P. Roy Choudhury and Jean Bertholle, Narayanan's paintings are on display at various museums and galleries in many countries such as India, France, Japan, Poland and Germany. He is a three time recipient of the Tamil Nadu State Lalit Kala Akademi Award, Raja Ravi Varma Award of the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi and the Cagnes-sur-Mer International Festival of Painting Award.
== Biography == Akkitham Narayanan was born in 1939<ref name="Akkitham Narayanan - Safronart profile">{{Cite web |url=https://www.saffronart.com/artists/akkitham-narayanan |title=Akkitham Narayanan - Safronart profile |date=2019-03-14 |website=Saffronart |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref> at Amettikkara, near Kumaranallur in Palakkad district of the south Indian state of Kerala to Akkithathu Manayil Vasudevan Namboothiri and Checkur Manaykkal Parvathy Antharjanam.<ref name="Padma Shri for Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri">{{Cite web |url=https://www.mathrubhumi.com/books/news/akkitham-achuthan-nampoothiri-life-sketch-1.1682922 |title=Padma Shri for Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri |website=Mathrubhumi |date=25 January 2017 |language=en |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref> In 1956, he joined the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai<ref name="Reminiscences">{{Cite web |url=http://www.akkitham.in/uploads/2/8/1/9/28191043/essay_by_akkithamnarayanan.pdf |title=Reminiscences |date=2019-03-14 |website=akkitham.in |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref> from where he secured a diploma in 1961 and, on receiving a Government of India scholarship, he did advanced studies until 1964.<ref name="Profile - Cholamandalam">{{Cite web |url=http://www.cholamandalartistvillage.com/Akkitham%20Narayanan.html |title=Profile - Cholamandalam |date=2019-03-14 |website=Cholamandalam Artists' Village |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref> His days at the Government College of Fine Arts gave him the opportunity to come in contact with D. P. Roy Choudhury, the then principal and K. C. S. Paniker,<ref name="Art of lyrical intuition">{{Cite web |url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/books-and-art/130217/art-of-lyrical-intuition.html |title=Art of lyrical intuition |last=Issac |first=Shruthi |date=2017-02-13 |website=Deccan Chronicle |language=en |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref> who was the vice principal of the institution, and Narayanan was also involved with Paniker's efforts to found Cholamandal Artists' Village in 1966.<ref name="Interview">{{Cite web |url=http://www.akkitham.in/uploads/2/8/1/9/28191043/akkitham.pdf |title=Interview |date=2019-03-14 |website=akkitham.in |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref> In between, he worked at Ethiraj College for Women for a short while, as a teacher of batik painting. He received another scholarship, this time from the Government of France, which assisted him to move to Paris to study at École des Beaux-Arts, where he studied until 1970; at the institution, he studied monumental art under Jean Bertholle and engraving under Lucien Couteau.<ref name="Profile - Cholamandalam" /> Subsequently, he settled in Paris where lives.<ref name="Akkitham Narayanan Namboothiri - biography">{{Cite web |url=http://www.akkitham.in/narayanan.html |title=Akkitham Narayanan Namboothiri - biography |date=2019-03-14 |website=Akkitham |language=en |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref><ref name="Akkitham Narayanan - Wide Walls">{{Cite web |url=https://www.widewalls.ch/artist/akkitham-narayanan |title=Akkitham Narayanan - Wide Walls |date=2019-03-14 |website=Widewalls |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref>
Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri, noted Malayalam poet, is Narayanan's elder brother.<ref name="Poet’s life, as seen by his daughter">{{Cite web |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/kozhikode/poets-life-as-seen-by-his-daughter/article7670148.ece |title=Poet's life, as seen by his daughter |last=Anoop |first=Aabha |date=2015-09-20 |website=The Hindu |language=en-IN |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref>
== Awards == Narayanan received the state award of the Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai, in 1963 and twice more in 1965 and in 1966.<ref name="Akkitham Narayanan - Safronart profile" /> In between, he received the Association of Young Painters & Sculptors Award, sponsored by the Akademi in 1965 and in 1972, he received an award at 4th International Painting Festival, Cagnes-sur_Mer.<ref name="Akkitham Narayanan Namboothiri - biography" /> Kerala Lalithakala Akademi awarded him the K. C. S. Paniker Puraskaram in 2009.<ref name="State Awards - Kerala Lalithakala Akademi">{{Cite web |url=https://www.lalithkala.org/content/state-awards |title=State Awards - Kerala Lalithakala Akademi |website=www.lalithkala.org |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref> The Akademi honoured him again with the Raja Ravi Varma Award to Narayanan in 2017.<ref name="Art of lyrical intuition" /> The Akademi has also produced a 27-minute documentary film on the life of the artist, which was directed by K. N. Shaji.<ref name="Travelling with art from Kumaranalloor to Paris">{{Cite web |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/travelling-with-art-from-kumaranalloor-to-paris/article26045389.ece |title=Travelling with art from Kumaranalloor to Paris |date=2019-01-21 |website=The Hindu |language=en-IN |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{Cite web |url=http://www.akkitham.in/uploads/2/8/1/9/28191043/mathrubhumi_11-06-2010.jpg |title=Report in Mathrubhumi |date=2019-03-14 |publisher=Mathrubhumi |access-date=2019-03-14}} * {{Cite web |url=http://www.akkitham.in/uploads/2/8/1/9/28191043/img00153-20121214-0946.jpg |title=Report in City Express|date=2019-03-14 |publisher=Mathrubhumi |access-date=2019-03-14}} * {{Cite web |url=http://www.akkitham.in/uploads/2/8/1/9/28191043/narayananreport.pdf |title=Report in Life Metro |date=2019-03-14 |publisher=Mathrubhumi |access-date=2019-03-14}} * {{Cite web |url=http://www.akkitham.in/uploads/2/8/1/9/28191043/manorama.jpg |title=Report in Malayala Manoram |date=2019-03-14 |publisher=Mathrubhumi |access-date=2019-03-14}} * {{Cite web |url=http://www.cholamandalartistvillage.com/img%20Akkitham%20Narayanan.html |title=Akkitham Narayanan's Paintings |date=2019-03-14 |website=Cholamandal Artists'Village |access-date=2019-03-14}} * {{Cite web |url=http://www.artalivegallery.com/artists.php?page=4&cat=artists&scat=129&show_display=&show_work=true#4 |title=Gallery on Art Alive |date=2019-03-14 |website=Art Alive |access-date=2019-03-14}}
{{Painters from Kerala}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Narayanan, Akkitham}} Category:Living people Category:1939 births Category:Painters from Kerala Category:20th-century Indian painters Category:Indian male painters Category:People from Palakkad district Category:Malayali people Category:Artists from Kerala Category:Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai alumni Category:Indian contemporary painters Category:Indian expatriates in France Category:20th-century Indian male artists Category:21st-century Indian male artists