Down to a fine art: A teacher’s canvas

CHENNAI: For years, Purnima Ganapathy has been trying to persuade her mother to hold a solo show of her paintings. But the former art teacher, painter and dancer, whose career has never been in the spotlight, was reluctant. However, as

Leela Ganapathy

turns 80, her family has come forward to hold an

exhibition

of her works over the years.

‘Leela Ganapathy — Retrospective of art’, will be inaugurated at the Lalit Kala Akademi on October 20. About 48 paintings and 33 drawings and pastel works will be on display, capturing Leela’s artistic journey from 1975 till 2016. "I’ve had several group shows across the country, but only two solo shows in all these years," says Leela.

Fond of drawing since childhood and encouraged by her art teacher in school, she went on to study BA (fine arts) at Stella Maris College. After graduating, she taught in a government school, before joining the Government College of Fine Arts as a lecturer in 1970, teaching history of arts till she retired in 1994. Her students include artist G Chandrasekharan, Ebenezer Singh, C Douglas, late S Nandagopal,

R M Palaniappan, sculptor Vijayavelu and Thota Tharani.

"I was her student in 1968. We didn’t have too many textbooks of art history so she used to spend hours in the library, reading up on masters’ such as Van Gogh, which she would then translate into Tamil for us," says Chandrasekharan, who has now started a College of Fine Arts in Tirunelveli.

During her tenure, she worked with principals who were also outstanding artists from S Dhanapal to Anthony Doss. With Dhanapal she has a longer association, having known him since childhood when she was learning Bharathanatyam and Kathakali from Kalasagram Rajagopal in Mylapore.

But few people know about her prowess as an artist. Leela’s solo shows in 1986 (‘Man Is A Part Of Nature’) and 2002 (‘In Full Bloom Again’) were a culmination of her other passion — dance — which makes all her work dynamic.

A strong theme that runs through her work is women’s issues. "Women have to work hard to establish themselves professionally, they have to remain strong to hold their own in life," says Leela, adding that she was among the handful of

women

artists at that point of time. "We didn’t get much recognition, but I wasn’t bothered by it, I did it for my satisfaction," she says.

But she is happy that times have changed. "I’m proud to say some of my female students — Dimpy Menon, Benitha Percival, Premalatha, Cynthia Pannerselvam — have gone on to become well-known artists."

Trotsky Marudhu, former student and a director of special effects in films, remembers her taking a personal interest in her students. "Our class would have about 15 girl students, but only a couple of them would complete the course," he says. "She introduced me to interesting books on art history and inspired me to explore the library in the college, which has one of the best collections in south India."

As for Leela, she is happy with all the canvases she has painted for herself. "I am proud to be a teacher. Dance is within me, I can’t be separated from it, and through my paintings I express myself," she says, adding that the upcoming show is a dream come true.