Lot 1381
  • 1381

Ram Kumar (b.1924)

Estimate
120,000 - 180,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Ram Kumar
  • Ruins
  • Oil on canvas
  • 55ΒΌ by 33 in. (140.2 by 83.8 cm.)
  • Painted in 1972

Provenance

Acquired directly from the artist in the 1970s

Thence by descent

Literature

G. Kapur, Contemporary Indian Artists, Vikas Publishing, 1978, plate 26

Condition

Good overall condition. Very faint craquelure in areas; primarily in central red/brown, light yellow center left and dark brown along lower left edges. Otherwise, painting appears stable. Tones slightly warmer than in catalogue illustration. UV Light: The fine hairline cracks have been consolidated and this is visible under ultra violet light, particularly in upper left, upper center and lower right areas of the painting
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Catalogue Note

Ram Kumar's landscapes mark a significant shift in his work, from his post-Paris figurative phase to the non-figurative world of abstraction. It was the sacred city of Varanasi that served as the catalyst and inspiration for this move toward abstraction and this is not altogether surprising. Hindus believe that death or cremation in this holy city leads to liberation rather than rebirth in another form and in some ways these sentiments are reflected in the transition of Ram Kumar's work from figuration to abstraction. In the words of the artist, “Every sight was like a new composition, a life artistically organized to be interpreted in colours. It was not merely outward appearances which were fascinating but they were vibrant with an inner life of their own, very deep and profound, which left an everlasting impression on my artistic sensibility. I could feel a new visual language emerging from the depth of an experience.” (Ram Kumar in G. Gill ed., Ram Kumar: A Journey Within, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, 1996, p.89)

Painted in 1972, this untitled landscape is a resplendent example of the artist’s early experimentation with abstraction. In this work, the dramatic intensity of his early figurative paintings is retained in these canvases, executed in soft tones of ochre, umber and yellow which have now acquired a kind of austere brilliance, a certain ascetic purity. 'Ram Kumar addressed himself to the formal aberrations of mismatched planes, jamming the horizontal perspective against top views inspired by site-mapping and aerial photography, and locking the muddy, impasto-built riverbank constructions into a Cubist geometrical analysis. Gradually, the architecture drained away from his canvasses: society itself passed from his concerns, until, during the late 1960’s, his paintings assumed the character of abstractionist hymns to nature.' (R. Hoskote, Ram Kumar: Recent Works, SaffronArt & Pundole Art Gallery exhibition catalogue, May - July 2002, p. 6.)