Hundreds of art lovers paid tribute to art critic and fine arts scholar Vijaykumar Menon, 76, who died here on Tuesday night. He was undergoing treatment for kidney disease for some time.
His body was laid to pay tribute at Vyasgiri Ashram, where he had been living for the past 32 years, and later on Wednesday at the Kerala Lalitakala Academy.
As per his wish, his body was handed over to Amla Medical College Hospital. According to Amla Hospital sources, Menon had submitted documents to donate his body for medical studies in 2010 itself.
Menon, who taught art in various institutions, had written several books on art. His important books include Modernika Kaladarshanam, Ravivarma Designation, Indian Painting-Irupatham NutandilloAnd Indian Lavanya Darshanavam Kala Parasparayavum, He translated many plays from foreign languages into Malayalam.
He was the winner of several awards including the Kerala Lalitakala Akademi Award for Best Book on the Arts, the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Endowment for Scholarly Literature, the Kesari Award and the Gurudarshanam Award.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condoled the death of Menon. Kerala Lalitakala Akademi and Kerala Sangeet Natak Akademi have also condoled his death.
“Vijayakumar Menon was a part of Malayalam art criticism for four decades. He wrote several books on Indian and Kerala art. He criticized art in simple language. He was closely related to the publication of the Akademi. keelik Sangeeta Natak Akademi secretary K Janardhan said.