He gave faces to presidents and prime ministers, actors and saints — then history forgot his own.
The story
In the 1950s, a young man from a farming village near Tenali carved his way into Madras studios, Delhi's corridors of power, and an international stage. Presidents sat for him. Actors were cast in bronze by his hands. Then, quietly, he went home to farm his field — and the world moved on.
This is his family putting his name back where it belongs.
01
Born in 1925 in Bodapadu village near Tenali — the only son of Veerayya and Seethamma, a farming family — he was shaping clay and drawing long before anyone taught him. At fifteen, his school spotted the gift and asked him to sculpt Gandhi, Nehru and Jesus for the school. He worked day and night. But his father needed him in the fields, so he ran away — to Macharla, where Adavi Bapiraju became his first guru and taught him painting, and painting only.
02
First came study: in 1946 he moved to Madras and joined the Government School of Arts and Crafts — his teachers, struck by his talent, finished his five-year course early. In 1952 he took his diploma in Advanced Painting, First Class — and learned sculpture from Devi Prasad Roy Chowdhury of Bengal.
In 1952 he apprenticed under art director Madhavapeddi Gokhale at Vauhini Studios, Madras — the dream factory of Telugu cinema. He rose to become an art director himself at Saradhi Studio.
03
In October 1956, the Government Museum at Egmore hosted his one-man show — paintings, drawings and sculptures together. It was opened by Chief Justice P. V. Rajamannar. The catalogue billed him simply: A. R. KRISHNA.
Then came the invitation that could have changed everything: an art academy in Milan offered him a seat — on talent alone, but no scholarship to live on. He could have scraped his way there. But smallpox had taken his eldest daughter Adamma, his wife was lost in grief, and his friends urged him to stay home. So he let Italy slip through his fingers — and stayed with the people who needed him.
1956 exhibition catalogue
04
In 1962, on the encouragement — protsaham — of journalist Narla Venkateswara Rao, a family friend who treated him like a younger brother, he moved to Hyderabad. Under Narla's blessings he sculpted prolifically.
05
It began with an idea from Professor K. Satchidananda Murthy — Ancha's art student, who was also a professor at Andhra University. He kindled the same fire in his fellow students, and together they took a proposal to Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan — India's Vice-President at the time — asking that Ancha be allowed to sculpt him from life. Radhakrishnan said yes. The professor telephoned Ancha with the news. He boarded a train from Chennai to Delhi, checked into a hotel, and walked into Rashtrapati Bhavan. Three sittings, thirty minutes each — and a clay model that delighted Radhakrishnan so much he approved it on the spot. Ancha carried the clay home to Chennai, made the mold, and cast it in bronze by the lost-wax process. The finished statue was presented to Andhra University — and he stood in the crowd, watching, when it was unveiled. He was one of the few sculptors in Andhra of his time.
06
In 1964 he completed a postgraduate course in sculpture at the Madras School of Art under Devi Prasad Roy Chowdhury — whose teachers wanted to send him to America for further study.
Everything he had learned, he would one day pass on — to a student history does remember.
07
He played the sitar — taught by A.R. Dawood, learned while he was a student in Madras. It was only ever a hobby: every night around ten o'clock, he played classical tunes on it. The same hands that shaped bronze drew music from strings — one more art folded into a life that refused to hold just one.
08
From 1978 to 1985 he lived in Bangalore, chasing an obsession: a flying bicycle. He built prototypes and ran experiments. When his health declined, he came home to Bodapadu — to his wife Hamsakshari and his acre-and-a-quarter field — and farmed to the end. Hamsakshari was from his own village, an arranged marriage, and she had stood behind his art all his life: going wherever he went, staying with him, never asking a second question \u2014 only supporting him as much as she could. He had founded a village development association there, personally overseeing road repairs and drainage works — and it was there, in the village, that a young Katuri Venkateshwara Rao met him and became his student. He died on March 29, 2001. The man who sculpted a President ended his days as a farmer — not defeated, just home.
The student remembers the teacher — even if history does not.
09
In 1996, Vaartha called him an “international artist” who “remained a farmer.” In 2000, his students felicitated him in Tenali. In May 2017, the Telugu daily Sakshi profiled him again — rare published records of a life lived quietly. “Given even a modicum of encouragement,” V.R. Narla had written of him in 1959, “he would, I am sure, develop into a master artist.” Today his family is gathering every photograph, catalogue and memory into this archive, and a book on his life is in progress.
The forgetting ends here.
Timeline
Born in Bodapadu village near Tenali, to Veerayya and Seethamma — a farming family's only son.
At fifteen, his school spots his gift and asks him to sculpt Gandhi, Nehru and Jesus for the school. He works day and night; his father wants him in the fields.
He runs away to Macharla. Adavi Bapiraju becomes his first guru — teaching him painting, and painting only.
Moves to Madras and joins the Government School of Arts and Crafts. His teachers, struck by his talent, complete his five-year course early.
Diploma in Fine Arts — Advanced Painting, First Class.
Apprentices under art director Madhavapeddi Gokhale at Vauhini Studios, Madras; later art director at Saradhi Studio.
One-man show of paintings, drawings and sculptures at the Government Museum, Egmore — opened by Chief Justice P. V. Rajamannar.
A government scholarship to study in Italy. He is ready to go — but smallpox takes his eldest daughter, and he stays with his grieving family.
Bust of Akkineni Nageswara Rao — gifted to the actor out of respect; ANR kept it in his house.
Bust of Narla Venkateswara Rao — a token of appreciation for the journalist who treated him like a younger brother. Narla, then a Rajya Sabha MP, writes him a glowing testimonial.
Duggirala Gopala Krishnayya statue — sculpted in Chennai at Pragada Kotaiah's request, installed in Chirala.
New Delhi → Waltair: his students arrange three thirty-minute sittings with Vice-President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan at Rashtrapati Bhavan; the approved clay is cast in bronze in Chennai and presented to Andhra University (received 12 February 1962), unveiled with the sculptor present.
Moves to Hyderabad on Narla Venkateswara Rao's protsaham (encouragement) — the journalist treated him like a younger brother.
Postgraduate course in sculpture, Madras School of Art, under Devi Prasad Roy Chowdhury.
Statue of Dr. Gururaju for the Government Homoeopathic Medical College he founded.
Bangalore — opens a mechanical workshop (1981); after it closes, he prototypes the aerocycle, a flying bicycle — experiments until his health declines.
Returns to Bodapadu and farms his acre-and-a-quarter field. There, Katuri Venkateshwara Rao meets him and becomes his student.
Vaartha profiles him: “International artist... yet remained a farmer.”
Felicitated in Tenali — his student Katuri presents the “Geya Sumanjali” tribute.
March 29 — dies in Bodapadu, a farmer to the end.
Sakshi profiles him as an “international artist” — a rare published record.
A book on his life is in progress.
The work
