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.”
A view of the display at Lalit Kala Akademi | Photo Credit: JOTHI RAMALINGAM B
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.
Also read: Ponniyin Selvan | A book, a movie, and the mighty Cholas
“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.
Digital prints of the Ponniyin Selvan series | Photo Credit: JOTHI RAMALINGAM B
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.
Maniam and Kalki’s syncretism rose to new heights in 1950 when the serialised Ponniyin Selvan hit the stands. “The very first series with which he expanded his reach as an artist was Ponniyin Selvan. And the connection between the author and the illustrator was so beautiful with the author giving hints to the artist every week on the plot points. Sometimes, the artist would outdo the author’s imagination, and he would be willing to make tweaks to the story,” says Subhashini. “I can’t stop wondering how those interactions would have been.”
Portraits by Maniam Selven | Photo Credit: JOTHI RAMALINGAM B
An entire corner dedicated to Ponniyin Selvan has original character sketches and digital prints of panels from the series. Not far away is another intricate canvas from 1941 that has a pictorial narrative of the story of sage Agastya. With the Deepavali Malar covers, wrappers and tariff cards, one gets to see a more evolved Maniam on a journey to get with the times. With portrayals of Alexander the Great, Mother Teresa and the like, Maniam later experimented with mediums and subjects.
His foray into art direction with movies like Parthiban Kanavu (1960) furthered the possibilities of creating worlds on a much larger scale.
The curation dedicates its final chapter to Maniam Selven’s work — here, one gets a view into how illustrative art has evolved with the advent of digital tools: think superimposition, photographic collages, and the lack of signage for illustrations done on the computer. “The year after appa passed away, Deepavali Malar, gave me an opportunity to work on their cover despite my age and experience. The legacy of my father speaks this way,” says Maniam Selven.
