A. P. Santhanaraj, who carved a niche for himself with his unorthodox engagement with the line, abstraction and unconscious figuration, was one of the most significant artists to emerge from Madras (now Chennai), following the first generation of K. C. S. Paniker and S. Dhanapal.
Born in 1932 in Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, Santhanaraj obtained his Diploma in Painting from the Government School of Arts and Crafts, Madras, in 1953. Soon, he joined his alma mater as instructor, eventually retiring in 1990 as its principal. Some of his famous students include R. B. Bhaskaran, Velu Vishwanadhan, Alphonso Arul Doss, M. X. Susairaj, C. Douglas, Rm. Palaniappan and K. Muralidharan.
Santhanaraj’s artistic practice was deeply rooted in the exploration of line and colour, creating a distinctive visual language. He employed unconventional painting methods— he would place random pieces of paper on the canvas, moving them around while intermittently rotating and inspecting the canvas from various angles. This method reflects his uninhibited thought process. In this engagement with line and abstraction, unconscious figuration would appear, often a female figure. He was also inspired by classical Indian abstraction.
He was also a skilled portraitist; a notable example being the portrait sculpture of the independence activist, Karumuthu Thiagarajan Chettiar. His frescoes adorn the buildings of the Lok Sabha and the Madras High Court.
His artworks are part of several esteemed collections, including the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi. In 2011, Focus Art Gallery in Chennai held a posthumous exhibition, celebrating his contributions to art.
Santhanaraj passed away in Chitlapakkam, near Tambaram in Chennai Metropolitan Area, in May 2009.