B K S Varma's painting style was lush, fantasy-oriented

One of his paintings 'Parvathi'. 

B K S Varma, who died of a heart attack at 74 on Monday, was known for his intricate, effusive paintings.

Born in Karnoor near Attibele, he grew up in a family that nurtured the art. His mother Jayalakshmi was an artist and his father Krishnamacharya a musician.

Varma started sketching when he was just six and honed his skills at Kala Mandira, Bengaluru.

"He developed a fantasy-oriented representational style. A large number of people appreciated his skillfully rendered works," Ravikumar Kashi, a contemporary artist, told DH.

In 1985-86, Varma's paintings depicting environmental concerns became popular. His flair for creating intricate works on the spot thrilled laypeople and won him a huge fan following. "He could draw with strands of thread and it was like magic. He would draw during music and dance shows and his art would be in sync with the performances," said Kashi.

Chandranath Acharya, a well-known painter and illustrator, said Varma was influenced by Raja Ravi Varma. “While Ravi Varma painted royal women, models and goddesses, B K S Varma’s creations were from his own imagination,” he said.

"He was largely a self-made artist who pursued his passion. One wonders how much more his contribution would be valued had he emerged from a big college of art," said Acharya.

Varma could draw portraits on postcards in five minutes, just using his nails. He loved drawing characters from Indian epics and mythology.

"He drew goddesses and characters from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata," said C S Krishna Shetty, artiste and former chairman and administrator of Lalita Kala Akademi, Delhi.

Art writer and curator Giridhar Khasnis said Varma was critical of what went in the name of modern and contemporary art. “Whether one accepted his point of view or not is an open question," he said.

Varma also worked as an art director for Kannada films ('Bangarada Jinke' and 'Ganesha Subramanya'). He received the Karnataka Lalitakala Academy Award in 1986 and the Rajyotsava Award in 2001.