Laxma Goud (b. 1940, Andhra Pradesh, India) is recognized for his graceful, yet powerful line drawings, etchings, and watercolors. By the late 1960s, Goud had developed a distinct style with finely chiseled, yet pliant lines and delicate washes of color that he used to depict man’s interaction with nature. Humor, earthiness, and vitality emerge as Goud transforms the characters of his works, as he also explores man’s connection to his environment. The works recreate the rural landscape as if it is frozen in time. The color, innocence, simplicity, flora, and fauna are indicative of the bucolic naivety. A master draughtsman, Goud was a favored artist by the Herwitzes and was the most represented artist in their collection. Laxma Goud’s detailed figurative works depict exaggerated mythic figures among the rural realities of the Indian countryside. In operatic etchings, pastels, charcoal drawings, paintings, and sculptures, Goud renders heroes in extravagant armor, multicolored mythological goddesses, and the lives of rural townspeople with equal dynamism and drama. Goud draws on his childhood in rural India and incorporates traditional tribal ornaments and elements of Indian dress such as lungis and saris. His works also course with eroticism, often featuring genitalia and suggestive poses amid the pastoral tableaux.
He earned a diploma in drawing and painting from the Government College of Art and Architecture, Hyderabad, and later studied mural painting and printmaking at M.S. University, Baroda. Goud has exhibited in New York, Mumbai, New Delhi, London, Washington, D.C., Munich, Taiwan, Geneva, and Amsterdam. His works are in the collections of the Phillips Collection, the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, and the Glenbarra Art Museum.
The artist lives and works in Hyderabad.