Legendary artist, illustrator and sculptor Namboothiri passes away at 97

The famous illustrator and sculptor KM Vasudevan Namboothiri, from Kerala, passed away at the age of 97. PM Modi expressed his condolences on his demise

The famous illustrator, sculptor and line sketch artist, KM Vasudevan Namboothiri, passed away at the age of 97.  KM Vasudevan took his last breath at a private hospital in Kottakkal on Friday, where he was going through treatment for his age-related ailments.

During his decades-long career, Namboothiri illustrated many popular characters for literary publications in the state. He has done some really popular literary works, which include characters of doyens of Malayalam literature like Jnanpith laureates M T Vasudevan Nair, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai and S K Pottakkad and legends like Vaikom Muhammad Basheer.

Namboothiri early life

Namboothiri was born in 1925 in Kerala's Ponnani. He entered the world of painting and sculpture in his childhood as he was influenced by a temple near his house. He was the disciple of prominent artist K C S Paniker and he was also inspired by renowned painters like Debi Prasad Roy Chowdhury and S Dhanapal.

Namboothiri studied painting at the Madras School of Fine Arts.

He also tried his hands at art direction and worked as an art director in a few films, such as Uttarayanam, which won him Kerala State Award for the best art director.

In his long career of more than fifty years, he has done illustrations for almost all important literary works.

Renowned actor Mohanlal was also among his huge fans.

PM Modi expressed his condolences

PM Modi also remembered his iconic artwork and tweeted, "He was widely respected for his creativity and efforts to popularise aspects relating to history and culture. Pained by his demise. My thoughts are with his family in this sad hour. Om Shanti."