A busy Mount Road and Parrys Corner, a view of Madurai city from the Tirupparankundram hill, boats in the Cooum, and a potrait of actress Padmini from the moviePonnu Vilayum Bhoomi.
These and a range of other landscapes and potraits are a part of an exhibition ‘Paintings of Sivakumar’ at the Lalit Kala Akademi.
“I was a student of the Government College of Arts and Crafts in Chennai from 1959 to 1965 and those years were the best period of my life. Most of the art work on display here was done during that time and during my travels across the country,” said actor Sivakumar. Each painting comes with a description explaining when the the work was created and the medium used. While a few paintings were done by Mr. Sivakumar while he worked with Mohan Arts during his student years, others have interesting stories connected to them. A case in example is a sketch of Mumbai done in three hours from Express Towers in 1972, when he visited the city to perform a stage play.
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The exhibition was organised by Mr. Sivakumar’s sons actors Suriya and Karthi to mark his 75th birthday on October 27. A coffee table book — Paintings of Sivakumar — with all the paintings from the exhibition, was released on Wednesday.
Speaking at the event, actor Suriya said they had planned instituting an annual award in Mr. Sivakumar’s name to a promising artist from the State. “We were keen onshowcasing our father’s works to the public. In the coming months, we hope to organise exhibitions in Coimbatore, Madurai and Tiruchi as well,” he added. The exhibition will be on at the Akademi till Friday.