Museum dedicated to legacy of Ramachandran to open today

In 1972, Achutan Ram-achandran Nair envisioned a modest museum, run by himself and his artist-wife Tan Chameli, as a way to fulfil a long-held dream of a life devoted to art.

- Dhamini Ratnam

More than five decades later, that vision is finally being realised. On October 5, a museum showcasing Ramachandran’s paintings, sculptures, and illustrations—alongside a selection of his wife’s watercolours—will open to the public in Kerala’s Kollam district.

Housed in one of the buildings of the Sree Narayana Guru Cultural Complex, opened by the state government in 2023, the Ramachandran Museum will be run under the aegis of the Kerala Lalit Kala Akademi and will also house art works collected by the renowned artist over the years, besides some personal belongings, and a recreation of his studio. Its emblem comes from Ramachandran’s 2002 oil on canvas—Song of the Simbul Tree.

The works on display represent key phases of Ramachandran’s long and prolific career, and comprise 12 oil paintings, including four monumental Lotus Ponds canvases. Other works include three sculptures, including one from his iconic bronze Gandhi series, original illustrations created for children’s books published both nationally and internationally, and seven stamp designs commissioned by the Department of Posts (formerly the Post and Telegraph Department), including one commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1930 Dandi March. The museum will also feature Ramachandran and Chameli’s collection of Rajasthani miniatures, primarily from Nathdwara, as well as oil paintings from the Raja Ravi Varma school of Kerala.

Shortly before he died in February 2024, the 89-year-old artist expressed his desire to donate a number of his works in a handwritten letter to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.