Noted sculptor and retired Dean of Chamarajendra Government College of Visual Arts (CAVA) V.A. Deshpande passed away early on Sunday. Mr. Deshpande, 66, was ailing for some time. He leaves behind his wife and two sons. The last rites were performed near the Chamundi foothills.
Born in Badami in 1955, Mr. Deshpande finished his early schooling there before joining the Drawing Teachers’ course at Dharwad School of Art (now called Halabhavi School of Art). He later moved to M.S. University in Baroda to pursue a five-year diploma course in Sculpture and a PG diploma in Metal Casting.
Mr. Deshpande worked as a lecturer in the Department of Architecture at Malnad College of Engineering in Hassan before joining CAVA in 1983. After joining as a lecturer in the Department of Sculpture, he moved up the hierarchy as a Reader before becoming the Dean in 2005. He retired in 2015.
According to retired Dean of CAVA Basavaraj M., the notable works of Mr. Deshpande include the 9.5-ft bronze statue of the late Deputy Prime Minister Babu Jagjivan Ram in front of the railway station in Mysuru, the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Gandhi Square in Mysuru, and the statue of poet laureate Kuvempu at the entrance of Manasagangothri in Mysuru.
Mr. Desphande was the recipient of several honours, including the Rajyotsava Award in 2019, besides the State Lalitkala and Shilpakala Academy awards.
