Renowned artist Yusuf Arakkal dead

Bengaluru:  Renowned figurative artist Yusuf Arakkal, who left a distinct impression of his own with his works, died at his residence on Tuesday here due to illness, his family said.

“My father has passed away,” was all that the artist’s son, Sibu Arakkal, could say in his grief.

Besides Sibu, the 70-year-old Bengaluru-based artist is survived by wife Sara Arakkal.

Born in 1945 in Kerala’s Chavakkad, Arakkal obtained a diploma in painting from Karnataka Chitrakala Parishad in Bengaluru. His mother hailed from the only Muslim royal family which once ruled Kerala and his father belonged to Keyees — the well-known business family based at Kozhikode and Thalassery.

Driven by the passion to be a painter, he had left his home for Bengaluru. His parents died when he was young and the hardships he faced during his struggle matured his sensibility. This nurtured the artist in him and manifested through his paintings that showed his deep concern for people and society.

Mr Arakkal had done many works in different media including in canvases, sculptures with emphasis on tiger conservation.

Recently, he received the Lorenzo De Medici gold medal, at Florence Internazionale Biennale in Italy, for his work ‘Bacon’s Man with the Child and Priest’. The award is instituted in memory of the great Florentine statesman, Lorenzo de Medici.

Mr Arakkal was also recipient of several other awards including Karnataka Lalithakala Academy award in 1979 and 1981 and a national award in 1983. The art community grieved the loss of a great humanitarian and a genius.