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J Swaminathan — featured artwork

Introduction

Date of Birth
21 Jun 1928
Zodiac sign
Gemini
Date of Death
25 Apr 1994
Age
65
Place of Birth
Sanjauli, Himachal Pradesh, India
Place of Death
New Delhi, NCT of Delhi, India
Spouse(s)
Bhawani pande
Children
No children
State Country of Birth
Himachal Pradesh, India
State Country of Death
NCT of Delhi, India

Exhibitions

  1. 1960

    1. Three-man Show, New Delhi, India
  2. 1961

    1. Two-man Show, New Delhi, India
    2. Opening Show, Kunika-Chemould Art Centre, New Delhi, India
    3. National Exhibition of Art, Lalit Kala Akademi, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi, India
  3. 1962

    1. One-man Show, New Delhi, India
    2. Sailoz Mookherjea and his Pupils, New Delhi, India
  4. 1963

    1. Group 1890 Exhibition, Inaugurated by Jawahar Lal Nehru, New Delhi, India
    2. Twenty Two Painters, Lucknow, India
    3. UNESCO Exhibition of Indian Graphics to Europe
  5. 1964

    1. One-man Show, New Delhi, India
    2. National Exhibition of Art, Lalit Kala Akademi, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi, India
    3. Three Man Show of Drawings, New Delhi, India
  6. 1965

    1. First International Exhibition, Saigon, Vietnam
    2. Gallery Chemould, Mumbai, India

      26 Nov 1965 to 04 Dec 1965

    3. One-man Show, Watercolours, New Delhi, India
    4. Art Now in India, Commonwealth Arts Festival, London, UK
    5. Tokyo Biennale, Tokyo, Japan
  7. 1966

    1. Colour Geometry of Space, New Delhi, India
    2. Silpi Chakra Lending Library Show, New Delhi, India
  8. 1967

    1. Seven Painters, London, UK
    2. Group Show, Kunika-Chemould Art Centre, New Delhi, India
    3. Silpi Chakra Group Show, New Delhi, India
  9. 1968

    1. First Triennale India, Lalit Kala Akademi, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi, India
    2. Five Contemporary Painters, New Delhi, India
  10. 1969

    1. One-man Show, New Delhi, India
    2. Indian Painters '1969, Kolkata, India
    3. Group Show, Mumbai, India
  11. 1970

    1. One-man Show, New Delhi, India
    2. One-man Show, New Delhi, India
    3. Indian Painters, Group Show, Zurich, Switzerland
    4. Indian Painters, Group Show,Tokyo, Japan
  12. 1971

    1. 11 Oct 1971 to 23 Oct 1971

    2. One-man Show, Shimla, India
  13. 1972

    1. 12 Jan 1972 to 18 Jan 1972

  14. 1973

    1. Homage to Solzhenitsyn, New Delhi, India
    2. Homage to Kangra Valley, New Delhi, India
    3. Dhoomimal Gallery, New Delhi, India
  15. 1974

  16. 1975

    1. One-man Show, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai, India
    2. 3rd Triennale India, Lalit Kala Akademi, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi, India
    3. One-man Show, Dhoomimal Gallery, New Delhi, India
  17. 1976

    1. One-man Show of Drawings, Bhopal, India
    2. One-man Show of Drawings, Natraj Gallery, New Delhi, India
    3. Contemporary Indian Paintings, Perth, Australia
    4. One-man Show, Dhoomimal Gallery, New Delhi, India
  18. 1977

    1. One-man Show, Dhoomimal Gallery, New Delhi, India
  19. 1978

    1. One-man Show, Dhoomimal Gallery, New Delhi, India
    2. Dhoomimal Gallery, New Delhi, India
  20. 1979

    1. 16 Feb 1979 to 03 Mar 1979

  21. 1980

    1. 12 Nov 1980 to 24 Nov 1980

  22. 1982

    1. Contemporary Art Gallery, Ahmedabad, India
  23. 1984

    1. 03 May 1984 to 19 May 1984

  24. 1985

  25. 1986

    1. 1st National Biennale, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, India
  26. 1987

    1. Festival of India, Moscow, Russia
    2. Perceiving Fingers - Catalogue of Roopankar Collection of Folk and Adivasi Art from Madhya Pradesh, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, India. 1987
  27. 1988

    1. 26 Mar 1988 to 15 Apr 1988

    2. 2nd National Biennale, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, India
    3. Seventeen Indian Painters, on occasion of 25 years of Gallery Chemould, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, India
  28. 1990

    1. Gallery Chemould, Mumbai, India
  29. 1991

    1. National Exposition of Contemporary Art, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi, India
    2. 12 Dec 1991 to 30 Dec 1991

  30. 1992

    1. 24 Jan 1992 to 24 Feb 1992

    2. Memorial, All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi, India
  31. 1993

    1. 15 Oct 1993 to 14 Nov 1993

  32. 1994

    1. Obora, Montreal, Canada
    2. Birla Academy of Arts and Culture, Kolkata, India
    3. Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India
  33. 1995

    1. Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, India
    2. Hungarian Information and Cultural Centre, New Delhi, India
    3. Gallery Chemould, Mumbai, India
  34. 1996

    1. Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg and Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
    2. Modern Indian Paintings, |One Hundred Years - Part I , Kumar Gallery, New Delhi, India
  35. 1997

  36. 2004

  37. 2005

    1. Ashta Nayak: Eight Pioneers of Indian Art, Aicon Gallery, New York, USA
    2. Golden Jubilee: Spirit set Free, Kumar Gallery Fifty Years, New Delhi, India

      28 Oct 2005 to 30 Dec 2005

  38. 2008

    1. Homage to Swaminathan, All India Fine Arts Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi, India

      09 Feb 2008 to 14 Feb 2008

    2. 3 Masters Briefly, Akar Prakar, Kolkata, India
    3. Moderns, Organised by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi in collaboration with Embassy of India, Amman at Royal Cultural Centre, Amman, Jordan
    4. Paz Mandala, Lalit Kala Akademi, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi, India
  39. 2009

    1. In Search of the Vernacular, Aicon Gallery, New York, USA
    2. Bharat Ratna! Jewels of Modern Indian Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
    3. 04 Apr 2009 to 10 Apr 2009

  40. 2010

    1. Open Doors, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi, India

      01 Jan 2010 to 31 Oct 2010

    2. Modern Folk: The Folk Art Roots of the Modernist Avant-Garde, Aicon Art Gallery, New York
    3. From Miniature to Modern: Traditions in Transition, Rob Dean Art, London in association with Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai, India
    4. Figure/Landscape - Part One, Aicon Gallery, New York, USA
  41. 2011

    1. Masterclass, Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi, India
100 of 142
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). J. Swaminathan, 1968 | Solo Exhibition Catalogue | 00882834
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Swaminathan, J. (Artist). J. Swaminathan, 1968 | Solo Exhibition Catalogue | 00882834

Chronicled Highlights

21 entries
J Swaminathan
1928Born
J Swaminathan
J Swaminathan was born in 1928 in Sanjauli, Himachal Pradesh, India.
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Recurring Shadows. Oil on canvas, early/mid 1960s | Painting | FineArts | 0022171
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Recurring Shadows. Oil on canvas, early/mid 1960s | Painting | FineArts | 0022171
…Swaminathan’s use of graffiti is an expression of his disconnection from his class. We should, therefore, pay less attention to his formal and painterly stances: the quintessential Swaminathan is rooted in tribal graffiti’s graphic experience. He is as whimsical as the raving maenad. Because he is whimsical, unpredictable, he paints as a man possessed: vocabulary is loaded with metaphors as any metaphoric tribal wall; nothing new is consciously attempted, only the fanciful marking, representing the mood of the moment, is brought into play: automatic scribbling, patternings that cancel out weight against image, smudge against crust, and of course the crisscrossing doodling game. In his smaller works, graffiti like expressionistic calligraphic images are dispersed all over the surface: the frame is irrelevant to these works…Unsublimated aggressiveness is the natural expressionistic tendency of black strokes: they are played up against coloured scrawls, and their total affect is not aggressive but eyeful, soothing diffidently indecisive.
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). The Sign & The Altar. Oil and mixed media on canvas, c.1964 | Painting | FineArts | 00371635
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). The Sign & The Altar. Oil and mixed media on canvas, c.1964 | Painting | FineArts | 00371635
The significance of a work of art - lies as so much in the image of reality that it may claim to present as in the reality of the image that it projects… The reality of the image in art derives from the same function as that of reality itself, i.e : to bring into being that which is not from elements which are. It is the organization of form by the rules of the artist‘s creative genius from the soma of his experience … The real struggle of the artist therefore lies in ‘unlearning’ tradition as much as avoiding the pitfalls of extant modes. It is only then that the incipient image directs him towards acquiring the rudiments of a style and a technique.
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Geometry of Colour. Oil on canvas, 1965 | Painting | FineArts | 00371200
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Geometry of Colour. Oil on canvas, 1965 | Painting | FineArts | 00371200
In 1992, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Geometry of Colour (1965), offered in the Indian European and Oriental Paintings and Works of Art by Sotheby's, which concluded on 09 October 1992 at New Delhi, achieving a sale price of ₹49,500 ($1,647). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Mountain, Tree And Bird. Acrylic on canvas, 1968 | Painting  | 00876744
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Mountain, Tree And Bird. Acrylic on canvas, 1968 | Painting | 00876744
In 1998, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Mountain, Tree And Bird (1968), offered in the Twentieth Century Indian Art by Christie's, which concluded on 02 June 1998 at London, achieving a sale price of ₹5,89,648 ($14,135). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). The Lotus and the Sun. Oil on canvas, 1969 | Painting | FineArts | 00375771
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). The Lotus and the Sun. Oil on canvas, 1969 | Painting | FineArts | 00375771
In using ancient symbols in a contemporary context, he was knocking off the demarcation between the traditional and the modern, dissolving historical categories in the spontaneous and stubborn act of creation.
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Homage to Solzhenitsyn. Oil on canvas, 1973 | Painting | EconomicsArt | 00869592
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Homage to Solzhenitsyn. Oil on canvas, 1973 | Painting | EconomicsArt | 00869592
In 2025, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Homage to Solzhenitsyn (1973), offered in the Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art by Sotheby's, which concluded on 17 March 2025 at New York, achieving a sale price of ₹40,67,07,312 ($4,686,000). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Untitled. Oil on canvas, 1974 | Painting | FineArts | 00373520
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Untitled. Oil on canvas, 1974 | Painting | FineArts | 00373520
In 1996, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Untitled (1974), offered in the Modern and Contemporary Indian Paintings: One Hundred Years by Sotheby's, which concluded on 08 October 1996 at London, achieving a sale price of ₹3,61,660 ($10,157.56). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Untitled. Oil on canvas, 1975 | Painting | FineArts | 00373934
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Untitled. Oil on canvas, 1975 | Painting | FineArts | 00373934
In 1997, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Untitled (1975), offered in the The Indian Sale by Sotheby's, which concluded on 08 May 1997 at London, achieving a sale price of ₹4,00,661 ($11,190). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Mountain & Bird Series. Oil on canvas, c.1975 | Painting | FineArts | 00600819
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Mountain & Bird Series. Oil on canvas, c.1975 | Painting | FineArts | 00600819
In 2004, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Mountain & Bird Series (1975), offered in the The Masterpieces & Museum Quality Series: Indian Contemporary Art – Books, Paintings & Sculpture by Osian's, which concluded on 15 October 2004 at New Delhi, achieving a sale price of ₹23,00,971 ($50,174). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Mountain & Bird Series. Oil on canvas, c.1979 | Painting  | 00879879
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Mountain & Bird Series. Oil on canvas, c.1979 | Painting | 00879879
In 2006, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Mountain & Bird Series (1979), offered in the Masterpieces & Museum Quality Series VI: With Rare Drawings and Books on Indian Contemporary Art by Osian's, which concluded on 01 March 2006 at New Delhi, achieving a sale price of ₹1,72,50,000 ($388,952). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). The Tree, The Bird, The Shadow. Oil on canvas, 1981 | Painting | FineArts | 00598150
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). The Tree, The Bird, The Shadow. Oil on canvas, 1981 | Painting | FineArts | 00598150
In 2005, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of The Tree, The Bird, The Shadow (1981), offered in the Islamic and Indian Art: Including Contemporary Indian Pakistani and Middle Eastern Paintings by Bonhams, which concluded on 28 April 2005 at London, achieving a sale price of ₹1,21,13,891 ($277,142). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). The Altar. Oil on canvas, 1988 | Painting | FineArts | 00416261
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). The Altar. Oil on canvas, 1988 | Painting | FineArts | 00416261
In 2022, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of The Altar (1988), offered in the Glenbarra: A Lasting Legacy Session 1 by Pundole, which concluded on 24 February 2022 at Mumbai, achieving a sale price of ₹22,00,00,000 ($2,922,259.92). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Mountain, Bird & Tree series. Oil on canvas, 1988 | Painting | FineArts | 00332110
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Mountain, Bird & Tree series. Oil on canvas, 1988 | Painting | FineArts | 00332110
He expresses a spiritual sentiment about the unrealised universe, but through the mediating mirror of nature. These are in a sense landscape pictures. There are zigzag mountains, delicate, transparent and lofty; symbols of ascent and of eternity. There is usually a piece of the mountains, a free-floating rock, hung against the sky, and with its perfect poise, defying the gravity of the earth. Sometimes this aerial rock is the perch of a bird or its floating vehicle. There is always an exquisite bird, or pairs and sets of birds: swallows, cuckoos, parrots, koels and peacocks. There is usually a tree or a flowering bush at the foot of the mountain or the crest of a hill: a virginal plant in the first flush of spring; a fragile tulsi, a cherry blossom or a gulmohar. A tree sprung from the air, as it were, all fragrance and colour, its roots barely anchored to the soil its branches filigreed against the sky. The space (akasa) of the picture radiates ligHe.
Sotheby's (Auction House). Indian European and Oriental Paintings and Works of Art. 09 October 1992, New Delhi | Auction Catalogue | EconomicsArt | 00861838
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Sotheby's (Auction House). Indian European and Oriental Paintings and Works of Art. 09 October 1992, New Delhi | Auction Catalogue | EconomicsArt | 00861838
On 09 October 1992, J. Swaminathan made their debut in the Indian public auction market when The Sign Comes to Rest was presented as Lot 144 in Indian European and Oriental Paintings and Works of Art, conducted by Sotheby's in New Delhi, India. This auction marked the artist's first recorded appearance in the public auction market, establishing the earliest chapter of their auction history.
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Text Decoded II. Oil on canvas, 1993 | Painting | FineArts | 00372259
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Text Decoded II. Oil on canvas, 1993 | Painting | FineArts | 00372259
In 1995, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Text Decoded II (1993), offered in the Indian Contemporary Paintings: Islamic Works of Art and Indian, Himalaya and South-East Asian Art by Christie's, which concluded on 16 October 1995 at London, achieving a sale price of ₹1,18,154 ($3,446). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Untitled. Oil on canvas, 1993 | Painting | FineArts | 00597671
Swaminathan, J. (Artist). Untitled. Oil on canvas, 1993 | Painting | FineArts | 00597671
The mind moves through the object to the idea, and through the idea to the object. Thus, the work becomes concrete and abstract at the same time

In 2004, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Untitled (1993), offered in the Modern Indian Paintings: Winter Online Auction by Saffronart, which concluded on 02 December 2004 at Online, achieving a sale price of ₹21,76,875 ($49,228). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
Saffronart (Auction House). Winter Online Auction - Modern Indian Paintings. 04 December 2003, Online | Auction Catalogue | EconomicsArt | 00861903
Saffronart (Auction House). Winter Online Auction - Modern Indian Paintings. 04 December 2003, Online | Auction Catalogue | EconomicsArt | 00861903
In 2003, an artwork by J Swaminathan was featured on the cover of Saffronart: Winter Online Auction (December 2003, London), marking a documented highlight in the artist's public and auction market visibility.
Bonhams (Auction House). Islamic and Indian Art - Including Contemporary Indian and Pakistani Paintings. 13 October 2005, London | Auction Catalogue | EconomicsArt | 00861926
Bonhams (Auction House). Islamic and Indian Art - Including Contemporary Indian and Pakistani Paintings. 13 October 2005, London | Auction Catalogue | EconomicsArt | 00861926
In 2005, an artwork by J Swaminathan was featured on the cover of Bonhams: Islamic and Indian Art (October 2005, New Delhi), marking a documented highlight in the artist's public and auction market visibility.
Sotheby's (Auction House). The Indian Sale. 23 May 2006, London | Auction Catalogue | EconomicsArt | 00861937
Sotheby's (Auction House). The Indian Sale. 23 May 2006, London | Auction Catalogue | EconomicsArt | 00861937
In 2006, an artwork by J Swaminathan was featured on the cover of Sotheby's: The Indian Sale (May 2006, New York), marking a documented highlight in the artist's public and auction market visibility.
Triveda (Auction House). Modern and Contemporary Indian Paintings. 25 October 2006, New Delhi | Auction Catalogue | EconomicsArt | 00861948
Triveda (Auction House). Modern and Contemporary Indian Paintings. 25 October 2006, New Delhi | Auction Catalogue | EconomicsArt | 00861948
In 2006, an artwork by J Swaminathan was featured on the cover of Triveda: Modern and Contemporary Indian Paintings (October 2006, Mumbai), marking a documented highlight in the artist's public and auction market visibility.
Pundole (Auction House). Looking West - Works from the Collection of the Glenbarra Art Museum, Japan (Session II). 04 September 2020, Mumbai | Auction Catalogue | EconomicsArt | 00862359
Pundole (Auction House). Looking West - Works from the Collection of the Glenbarra Art Museum, Japan (Session II). 04 September 2020, Mumbai | Auction Catalogue | EconomicsArt | 00862359
In 2020, an artwork by J Swaminathan was featured on the cover of Pundole: Looking West (September 2020, Mumbai), marking a documented highlight in the artist's public and auction market visibility.

Economics of Art

Research Centre

Posts 1

  1. All Living Souls
    Tuli Research Centre for India Studies presents All Living Souls - Expressed in the Modern and Contemporary Fine & Popular Indian Arts Curated by Neville Tuli As part of launching the 16th Research Category for India Studies - "The Animal-Human-Nature-Continuum" we present a fascinating exhibition of modern and contemporary Indian fine and popular arts and their expression of the ideas and forms related to the dialogue between animals and humans, and the larger cosmic and spiritual thoughts which abide therein. Please visit the Exhibition and see the artworks by modern and contemporary masters such as Rabindranath Tagore, D.P. Roy Chowdhury, M.F. Husain, J. Swaminathan, J. Sultan Ali, Somnath Hore, Ganesh Pyne, Manjit Bawa, K. Laxma Goud, Krishna Reddy, Jyoti Bhatt, Rekha Rodwittiya, Amit Ambalal, among others, along with vintage and rare prints from the pioneering Indian chromolithographic presses such as Chitrashala, Ravi Varma, Calcutta Art Studio, Chore Bagan & Kansaripara.

Calendar 4

  1. All Living Souls
    ArchivedExhibitionProject 79
    All Living Souls
    Expressed in Modern & Contemporary Fine and Popular Arts | Curated by Neville Tuli
    6th - 11th May 2026
    10:30am - 7:30pm
    Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi - 110003
    +5 more
  2. All Living Souls
    ArchivedOpening PreviewProject 78
    All Living Souls
    Expressed in Modern & Contemporary Fine and Popular Arts | Curated by Neville Tuli
    5th May 2026
    6:00pm - 9:00pm
    Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi - 110003
    +5 more
  3. Self Discovery via Rediscovering India Series  Part IV Building www.tuliresearchcentre.org
    ArchivedExhibitionProject 5
    Self Discovery via Rediscovering India Series Part IV Building www.tuliresearchcentre.org
    20th - 23rd February 2025
    Self Discovery via Rediscovering India Series Part IV
    Read More →
    +16 more
  4. Self-Discovery via Rediscovering India Series Inaugural Exhibition
    ArchivedExhibitionProject 1
    Self-Discovery via Rediscovering India Series Inaugural Exhibition
    14th - 29th March 2024
    Inaugural Exhibition
    Read More →
    +33 more

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