Eminent art critic and scholar in fine arts Vijayakumar Menon died at a private hospital here on Tuesday night. He was 76. He was undergoing treatment for renal disease for some time.
He authored many books on art. His important books include Adhunika Kaladarsanam; Ravivarma Padanam; Bharathiya Chitrakala-Irupatham Noottandil; and Bharathiya Lavanya Darsanavum Kala Parasparyavum. He translated many plays from foreign languages to Malayalam. Mr. Menon was a teacher at many art institutions.
Awards
He was the winner of many awards, including the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi Award for best book on art; Kerala Sahitya Akademi’s endowment for Scholarly Literature; Kesari Puraskaram; and Gurudarsanam Award.
His body will be kept at Vyasagiri Ashram up to 10 a.m. on Wednesday, where he was staying for the last 32 years, and till 1 p.m. at Kerala Lalithakala Akademi. The body will be handed over to the Amala Medical College Hospital, according to sources close to his relatives.
Condoled
Kerala Lalithakala Akademi and Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi condoled the death of Mr. Menon.
“Vijayakumar Menon was part of Malayalam art criticism for four decades. He wrote many books on Indian and Kerala art. He did art criticism in a simple language. He had close association with Akademi’s publication Keli,” said Sangeetha Nataka Akademi secretary K. Janardhanan.
