A group of eminent artists of Kerala have levelled charges of artistic fraud and plagiarism against an award-winning painter, alleging that majority of his celebrated works were actually those of struggling and unknown artists.
However, Murali Nagapuzha, a recipient of several honours, including Kerala Lalithakala Akademi Award and central government fellowship, has rubbished the allegations, saying he would file defamation suits against those who had levelled "false allegations" against him.
The artists alleged that Nagapuzha, known for his unique paintings on landscapes and portraits, used to employ upcoming and struggling artists as "ghost painters" to get his works done.
The controversy erupted as the state-run Language Institute is set to release a book on Nagapuzha today.
Around 25 eminent artists, including Namboothiri, B D Dathan and Bose Krishnamachari, came out against him and issued a joint press note in this regard recently.
Nagapuzha has exhibited his paintings in New York, Moscow, London and Dubai besides in various venues in India.
Noted artist T A Sathyapal, former secretary of Lalithakala Akademi, alleged Nagapuzha, in his three-decade old career, had "duped" several poor artists and marketed their works as his own and made a fortune.
"What he did was an artistic fraud. He promised to help several struggling artists, procured their works after duping them, exhibited at the national and international venues and gained fame and money," he told PTI.
Satyapal alleged that even Nagapuzha's famous paintings, including those on Malayalam writer Vaikom Muhammed Basheer and Indian-English author Anita Nair and his celebrated work "Childhood Dream", were actually done by a Thrissur-based low profile artist K G Babu.
"The dirty game of keeping the genuine artists, who created the works, in the dark and using their intellectual and material labour to make money for himself is a heinous act," he said.
