Peter120 at 23:29, 16 January 2026

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{{short description|Indian painter}}
{{for|the Indian poet|Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Akkitham Narayanan
| image = Akkitham_Narayanan_face.png
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1939}}
| birth_place = [[Kerala]], India
| death_date =
| death_place =
| movement =
| field = [[Painter]]
| training =
| works =
| spouse =
| awards = {{ubl|1963 [[Lalit Kala Akademi]], Chennai Award|1965 Association of Young Painters and Sculptors Award|1966 [[Lalit Kala Akademi]], Chennai Award|1972 [[Cagnes-sur-Mer]] International Painting Festival Award|2009 [[Kerala Lalithakala Akademi]] [[K. C. S. Paniker]] Award|2017 [[Kerala Lalithakala Akademi]] [[Raja Ravi Varma]] Award}}
}}
'''Akkitham Narayanan''' (born 1939) is a Paris-based Indian painter from [[Kerala]]. A student of such artists as [[K. C. S. Paniker]], [[D. P. Roy Choudhury]] and [[Jean Bertholle]], Narayanan's paintings are on display at various museums and galleries in many countries such as India, France, Japan, Poland and Germany. He is a three time recipient of the Tamil Nadu State [[Lalit Kala Akademi]] Award, Raja Ravi Varma Award of the [[Kerala Lalithakala Akademi]] and the [[Cagnes-sur-Mer]] International Festival of Painting Award.

== Biography ==
Akkitham Narayanan was born in 1939<ref name="Akkitham Narayanan - Safronart profile">{{Cite web |url=https://www.saffronart.com/artists/akkitham-narayanan |title=Akkitham Narayanan - Safronart profile |date=2019-03-14 |website=Saffronart |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref> at Amettikkara, near [[Kumaranallur]] in [[Palakkad district]] of the south Indian state of [[Kerala]] to Akkithathu Manayil Vasudevan Namboothiri and Checkur Manaykkal Parvathy Antharjanam.<ref name="Padma Shri for Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri">{{Cite web |url=https://www.mathrubhumi.com/books/news/akkitham-achuthan-nampoothiri-life-sketch-1.1682922 |title=Padma Shri for Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri |website=Mathrubhumi |date=25 January 2017 |language=en |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref> In 1956, he joined the [[Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai]]<ref name="Reminiscences">{{Cite web |url=http://www.akkitham.in/uploads/2/8/1/9/28191043/essay_by_akkithamnarayanan.pdf |title=Reminiscences |date=2019-03-14 |website=akkitham.in |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref> from where he secured a diploma in 1961 and, on receiving a Government of India scholarship, he did advanced studies until 1964.<ref name="Profile - Cholamandalam">{{Cite web |url=http://www.cholamandalartistvillage.com/Akkitham%20Narayanan.html |title=Profile - Cholamandalam |date=2019-03-14 |website=Cholamandalam Artists' Village |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref> His days at the Government College of Fine Arts gave him the opportunity to come in contact with [[D. P. Roy Choudhury]], the then principal and [[K. C. S. Paniker]],<ref name="Art of lyrical intuition">{{Cite web |url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/books-and-art/130217/art-of-lyrical-intuition.html |title=Art of lyrical intuition |last=Issac |first=Shruthi |date=2017-02-13 |website=Deccan Chronicle |language=en |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref> who was the vice principal of the institution, and Narayanan was also involved with Paniker's efforts to found [[Cholamandal Artists' Village]] in 1966.<ref name="Interview">{{Cite web |url=http://www.akkitham.in/uploads/2/8/1/9/28191043/akkitham.pdf |title=Interview |date=2019-03-14 |website=akkitham.in |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref> In between, he worked at [[Ethiraj College for Women]] for a short while, as a teacher of [[Batik|batik painting]]. He received another scholarship, this time from the Government of France, which assisted him to move to Paris to study at [[École des Beaux-Arts]], where he studied until 1970; at the institution, he studied monumental art under [[Jean Bertholle]] and engraving under Lucien Couteau.<ref name="Profile - Cholamandalam" /> Subsequently, he settled in Paris where lives.<ref name="Akkitham Narayanan Namboothiri - biography">{{Cite web |url=http://www.akkitham.in/narayanan.html |title=Akkitham Narayanan Namboothiri - biography |date=2019-03-14 |website=Akkitham |language=en |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref><ref name="Akkitham Narayanan - Wide Walls">{{Cite web |url=https://www.widewalls.ch/artist/akkitham-narayanan |title=Akkitham Narayanan - Wide Walls |date=2019-03-14 |website=Widewalls |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref>

[[Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri]], noted Malayalam poet, is Narayanan's elder brother.<ref name="Poet’s life, as seen by his daughter">{{Cite web |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/kozhikode/poets-life-as-seen-by-his-daughter/article7670148.ece |title=Poet's life, as seen by his daughter |last=Anoop |first=Aabha |date=2015-09-20 |website=The Hindu |language=en-IN |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref>

== Awards ==
Narayanan received the state award of the [[Lalit Kala Akademi]], Chennai, in 1963 and twice more in 1965 and in 1966.<ref name="Akkitham Narayanan - Safronart profile" /> In between, he received the Association of Young Painters & Sculptors Award, sponsored by the Akademi in 1965 and in 1972, he received an award at 4th International Painting Festival, Cagnes-sur_Mer.<ref name="Akkitham Narayanan Namboothiri - biography" /> [[Kerala Lalithakala Akademi]] awarded him the K. C. S. Paniker Puraskaram in 2009.<ref name="State Awards - Kerala Lalithakala Akademi">{{Cite web |url=https://www.lalithkala.org/content/state-awards |title=State Awards - Kerala Lalithakala Akademi |website=www.lalithkala.org |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref> The [[Kerala Lalithakala Akademi|Akademi]] honoured him again with the Raja Ravi Varma Award to Narayanan in 2017.<ref name="Art of lyrical intuition" /> The Akademi has also produced a 27-minute documentary film on the life of the artist, which was directed by K. N. Shaji.<ref name="Travelling with art from Kumaranalloor to Paris">{{Cite web |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/travelling-with-art-from-kumaranalloor-to-paris/article26045389.ece |title=Travelling with art from Kumaranalloor to Paris |date=2019-01-21 |website=The Hindu |language=en-IN |access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.akkitham.in/uploads/2/8/1/9/28191043/mathrubhumi_11-06-2010.jpg |title=Report in Mathrubhumi |date=2019-03-14 |publisher=Mathrubhumi |access-date=2019-03-14}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.akkitham.in/uploads/2/8/1/9/28191043/img00153-20121214-0946.jpg |title=Report in City Express|date=2019-03-14 |publisher=Mathrubhumi |access-date=2019-03-14}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.akkitham.in/uploads/2/8/1/9/28191043/narayananreport.pdf |title=Report in Life Metro |date=2019-03-14 |publisher=Mathrubhumi |access-date=2019-03-14}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.akkitham.in/uploads/2/8/1/9/28191043/manorama.jpg |title=Report in Malayala Manoram |date=2019-03-14 |publisher=Mathrubhumi |access-date=2019-03-14}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.cholamandalartistvillage.com/img%20Akkitham%20Narayanan.html |title=Akkitham Narayanan's Paintings |date=2019-03-14 |website=Cholamandal Artists'Village |access-date=2019-03-14}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.artalivegallery.com/artists.php?page=4&cat=artists&scat=129&show_display=&show_work=true#4 |title=Gallery on Art Alive |date=2019-03-14 |website=Art Alive |access-date=2019-03-14}}

{{Painters from Kerala}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Narayanan, Akkitham}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:Painters from Kerala]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian painters]]
[[Category:Indian male painters]]
[[Category:People from Palakkad district]]
[[Category:Malayali people]]
[[Category:Artists from Kerala]]
[[Category:Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai alumni]]
[[Category:Indian contemporary painters]]
[[Category:Indian expatriates in France]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male artists]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian male artists]]

Akkitham Narayanan - Revision history

Peter120 at 23:29, 16 January 2026