K. Laxma Goud

Born in Nizampur, Telangana in 1940, his initial encounter with art was during his schooling, where he drew the map of India. It anchored his interest in art, and his father sent him to the Government School of Art and Architecture in Hyderabad, where he completed his diploma in Drawing and Painting in 1963. Soon, he went to the Faculty of Fine Arts in Baroda on a scholarship, to develop his skills as a draughtsman and an etcher. Goud’s known for his vigor over a range of  mediums, from printmaking, drawing, gouache, glass painting, watercolour, pastels, and sculpture in bronze and terracotta. 

A conversation with his teacher K G Subramanyan sparked in him a need to enquire his inner world deeply. He recognised the need to create something reflecting his personal experiences and imagination. A return to his village in Nizampur stirred his artistic language, as he began contemplating on the nature of his experiences. His themes include explicit portrayals of village folk engaged in erotic play, exploring the psyche of male-female relationships with casual freedom and simplicity, and figures of human and animal lives inseparable from nature. These spirited and uninhibited lives form the pulse of his artistic evolution over 60 years.

Since 1965, he has held several one-man shows in India and abroad. He has also participated in several important national and international exhibitions some of which are Contemporary Indian Art, Royal Academy of Art, London, 1982; Contemporary Indian Art, Grey Art Gallery, New York, 1985; Indian Art Tomorrow, The Phillips Collection, Washington DC (1986) Contemporary Art of India: The Herwitz Collection, Worcester Art Museum, 1986; Wounds, Centre of International Modern Art, Calcutta and National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, 1993. In 1974, he set up a print studio in Hyderabad and continues his practice. He has participated in the Prints Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art, London during the India Festival and in 2000 he was invited for the Y2K International Exhibition of Prints, National Taiwan Arts.

His work has been commissioned by a number of prestigious institutions and organizations. His works are part of prestigious collections from collectors all over the world which include the Davida & Chester Herwitz family collection, gifted to Peabody Essex Museum; Masanori, Fukuoka & Glenbarra Art Museum, Japan; Ebrahim Alkazi & Art Heritage, New Delhi and the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi amongst others.

He has won Padma Shri in 2016; Telangana State Award in 2015; Prafulla Dahanukar Lifetime Achievement Award, 2015; Gagan Abani Puraskar from Vishwa Bharati University, Santiniketan for his outstanding contribution to art, 2012; Gold Medal; Gold Medal, Hyderabad Art Society, Hyderabad, 1969; Silver Medal, Hyderabad Art Society, Hyderabad, 1968; Annual Exhibition, Represented in Sao Paulo Biennial, Brazil (In concurrence with the Cultural Ministry, Government of India, 1977. Goud received the Andhra Pradesh State Lalit Kala Academy awards in 1962, 1966 and 1971. 

The artist lives and works in Hyderabad.