Swaminathan (21 June 1928 – 1994) was a leading Indian artist, painter, poet and writer.
He was a member of the Communist Party of India.
He is one of the most influential artists of India, instrumental in establishment of the Bharat Bhawan, a muti-art complex in Bhopal, in 1982, and served as the director of its Roopankar art Museum till 1990.
He discovered, Jangarh Singh Shyam, the first known modern-day Gond tribal artist of Madhya Pradesh state in India.