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Manickam Senathipathi, Voice of the Madras Art Movement, Dies at 86
May 15, 2025
Obituary: Remembering Manickam Senathipathi, A Quiet Giant of Indian Modern Art
Manickam Senathipathi (1939–2025), one of the last surviving torchbearers of the Madras Art Movement, passed away on May 11, 2025, at the age of 86. A former president of the Cholamandal Artists’ Village and an iconic figure in Indian modern art, Senathipathi’s passing marks the end of an era in post-independence artistic expression in South India.
Artist Manickam Senathipathi Courtesy – The Hindu
He spent his final days at the Cholamandal Artists’ Village in Chennai, where he painted his last work on May 10, a deeply symbolic canvas titled Christ. Rendered in celestial blues, earthly greens, and warm browns, the painting featured rising crosses and a central protective umbrella, possibly in response to the recent elevation of a new Pope. It was a parting gift from an artist who never ceased to engage with spiritual, mythological, and humanistic themes.
A Life in Colour, Metal, and Myth
Born in 1939 in Cheyur, Madurantakam, Tamil Nadu, Manickam Senathipathi was raised amidst the folk rhythms and cultural vibrancy that would later echo through his work. After earning a diploma in Drawing and Painting in 1965 from the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Chennai, he became a life member of Cholamandal Artists’ Village, a utopian collective founded by K.C.S. Paniker, which became synonymous with the Madras Art Movement.
From the beginning, Senathipathi stood apart for his versatility, seamlessly working across paintings and metal reliefs, and for his deeply introspective iconography. His metal reliefs, often featuring deities like Krishna playing the flute, became instantly recognisable for their textured silver backgrounds and sensual storytelling.
“In my work, I have never ceased to be a mythologist,” Senathipathi once wrote. “But the present has held in my thoughts a certain concern for the human condition… I depict insecurity, beauty, affection — things that make life meaningful today.”
Courtesy – The New Indian Express
These words were not just artistic philosophy, they were a code by which he created. His pieces were rarely loud, but always profound: a reclining figure, a hand held in warning or peace, a face with wide, staring eyes evoking the weight of history or prophecy.
The Madras Art Movement and Beyond
Senathipathi’s artistic journey cannot be told without revisiting the Madras Art Movement, one of the most significant developments in post-independence Indian art. While Bombay and Delhi gravitated toward European abstraction and expressionism, Madras carved its path, integrating traditional South Indian iconography with modernist aesthetics.
Senathipathi was one of the few artists to navigate both worlds, embracing folk motifs, Tamil Nadu’s ritual culture, and mythological symbolism while pushing formal boundaries in composition, colour, and medium. In his hands, metal relief became not just decorative but philosophical.
He travelled widely, representing India in Britain, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, and later in China, Southeast Asia, and Abu Dhabi. Despite international recognition, he remained deeply rooted in Tamil soil, both literally and spiritually.
Artist Manickam Senathipathi along with the Artists from Cholamandal Arts Village Courtesy – The Hindu
“The sounds and drumbeats of Tamil Nadu’s cultural diversity resonate in his work,” said his son, Saravanan Senathipathi, an acclaimed artist in his own right. “He was a legend who walked with legends and made his path.”
Recognition and Impact
Over his career, Senathipathi received numerous awards that underscored his importance to Indian art:
Kalaichemmal Award (2008) – Government of Tamil Nadu
Senior Fellowship (1984–86) – Department of Culture, Government of India
Tamil Nadu Lalit Kala Akademi Award (1981)
Yet he remained deeply modest. To those who knew him, Senathipathi was the serene centre in a community of artists often defined by wild experimentation. He mentored younger generations without fanfare, believing that art was less about fame and more about “carrying forward a flame with sincerity.”
Legacy in Metal and Memory
Senathipathi’s most iconic works often featured delicate eroticism, Krishna surrounded by lovelorn maidens, their bodies forming floral arabesques, or abstracted forms representing divine longing, peace, and pain. His stylistic austerity made the emotional power of his work even more potent.
His connection to his native Cheyur was lifelong, and its landscapes and rhythms often informed his compositions. The reclining figures in patterned saris, the deep reds and golds of Tamil festival life, and the contemplative eyes of sages and saints were all part of his visual language.
Courtesy – My Indian Art
“He brought myth to the present,” said an artist from Cholamandal. “In his work, the past was never past, it was alive, speaking, cautioning, blessing.”
A Gentle Farewell
Manickam Senathipathi leaves behind his wife Gowri, daughter Hemalatha, and son Saravanan. But more than that, he leaves behind a legacy of calm brilliance, a bridge between the sacred and the modern, the personal and the epic.
In the pantheon of Indian modernists, his name may not always shout, but it resonates deeply. For those who walk through the quiet corridors of the Cholamandal Artists’ Village, his spirit endures: in the textured metal, in the painted gaze, in the myth that still breathes.
As Saravanan says, “It is now our turn to carry this legacy — and make sure it never fades.”
