The Tamil literary world of the late 1960s witnessed a momentous confluence of distinguished writers, visual artists and theatre personalities. When artistes K.M. Aadimoolam and R.B. Baskaran became part of the editorial board of Kasadathapara, a literary magazine, their association added a modern visual sensibility to literary works. They not only designed the magazine but created modern letters for it. Now, selected portraits of Tamil writers by Aadimoolam, who passed away in 2008, are being published as a calendar.
“The portraits were drawn by my father at various points of time upon requests from literary and popular magazines. He did not consciously work on them with a view to turning them into a collection. We have chosen 13 drawings that can be successful portraits,” said A.L. Aparajithan, artist and son of Aadimoolam.
Lines from the past
A portrait of La.Sa. Ramamirtham adorns the frontage of the calendar, which is produced by K.M. Aadimoolam Foundation. This was drawn on 4th April 2004. The calendar also features portraits of U.Ve. Swaminatha Iyer, Subramania Bharathiyar, Nagualan, D. Jayakantan, Sundara Ramasamy, Atmanam, Sa. Kandasamy and Ki. Rajanarayanan.
“Unfortunately, we were not able to get portraits of women writers by Aadimoolam. Though there is a portrait of Azhagiya Nayagi Ammal, the author of Kavalai and mother of writer Ponneelan, it was used as the cover for the book and the layout spoiled its completeness,” said A.S. Panneerselvan, governing board member of the K.M. Aadimoolam Foundation.
More thematic calendars
The foundation has plans to bring out more thematic calendars in the future. The idea came from calendars based on the famous American abstract expressionist Mark Rothko’s paintings. “I brought a calendar from the U.S. and we hit upon the idea of producing calendars systematically, showcasing the works of Aadimoolam,” said Mr. Panneerselvan.
Besides publishing footnotes on the writer featured on the pages, the calendar carries the birthdays of Tamil writers and of the dates of the launch of serious Tamil magazines. It is designed to be kept as a folio after the year is over, or converted into framed portraits. “It has been printed on very high quality paper,” said Mr. Panneerselvan.
Aadimoolam drew a lot of portraits of the father of the nation in the year Mahatma Gandhi’s centenary was celebrated, which could be the theme of a calendar in the future. Another anticipated series will feature his evocative portraits of maharajas, which were sketched in the year privy purses were abolished and portray them in bejewelled crowns and costumes without a face, reflect the status of royalty in a democracy. Along the same lines, a calendar on politicians is also planned.
