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拍品專文
A cult figure in the worlds of Carnatic and Hindustani classical music, M.S. Subbulakshmi was known by several popular sobriquets including Suswaralakshmi or ‘Goddess of the Perfect Note.’ Born to a family of musicians in the temple town of Madurai in Southern India in 1916, Subbulakshmi grew up immersed in classical Carnatic music. Trained as a vocalist from a young age, she made her first recording when she was ten years old. After moving to Madras a few years later, Subbulakshmi started giving professional performances at venues like the highly selective Madras Music Academy, and later playing leading roles in early Tamil cinema productions. She has since performed at venues across India and around the world including Carnegie Hall and the United Nations General Assembly in New York, and the Royal Albert Hall in London. Among her several honors and awards are the Padma Bhushan in 1954, the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1974, the Padma Vibhushan in 1975 and India’s highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna in 1998.
An ardent admirer of her voice, Maqbool Fida Husain first heard Subbulakshmi perform in person at Benares Hindu University, during a ceremony to award him with an honorary doctorate. When he learnt of her death in 2004, Husain was so moved that he decide to memorialize the singer in a portrait painted the very same day, which he then titled and signed in Tamil as a mark of respect. Husain also included this portrait in an exhibition of his prints in Chennai later that year, which he dedicated to Subbulakshmi. In this monumental work, the singer is portrayed during a performance, seated with a tanpura in one hand. Although Husain painted her without many features, as was his inclination, her figure is unmistakable, draped in a rich silk sari and adorned with diamond earrings and nose ring, a large red bindi on her forehead and fragrant mogra or jasmine buds in her hair. Set against a green and gold background, this portrait represents a heartfelt tribute from one great artist to another.
Today, almost fifteen years after her death, Subbulakshmi remains a fixture in most Indian homes, where her recording of the hymn Venkateswara Suprabhatam is played dutifully every morning, not just as a call to prayer but also as a reminder of the eternal and professedly divine power of her voice.
An ardent admirer of her voice, Maqbool Fida Husain first heard Subbulakshmi perform in person at Benares Hindu University, during a ceremony to award him with an honorary doctorate. When he learnt of her death in 2004, Husain was so moved that he decide to memorialize the singer in a portrait painted the very same day, which he then titled and signed in Tamil as a mark of respect. Husain also included this portrait in an exhibition of his prints in Chennai later that year, which he dedicated to Subbulakshmi. In this monumental work, the singer is portrayed during a performance, seated with a tanpura in one hand. Although Husain painted her without many features, as was his inclination, her figure is unmistakable, draped in a rich silk sari and adorned with diamond earrings and nose ring, a large red bindi on her forehead and fragrant mogra or jasmine buds in her hair. Set against a green and gold background, this portrait represents a heartfelt tribute from one great artist to another.
Today, almost fifteen years after her death, Subbulakshmi remains a fixture in most Indian homes, where her recording of the hymn Venkateswara Suprabhatam is played dutifully every morning, not just as a call to prayer but also as a reminder of the eternal and professedly divine power of her voice.