Important Notice

"Ram Kumar's colours range between greys, yellow ochres and browns, but they derive their significance from their tonal subtleties, the tension they create in passing from one tone to another. His line again is not a boundary, its function is not merely to define form. It pulsates at every point of its length, alive like colours, alive like the spaces it creates." (J. Swaminathan, Link, 26 Feb. 1961, qtd in Ram Kumar: A Journey Within, New... "Ram Kumar's colours range between greys, yellow ochres and browns, but they derive their significance from their tonal subtleties, the tension they create in passing from one tone to another. His line again is not a boundary, its function is not merely to define form. It pulsates at every point of its length, alive like colours, alive like the spaces it creates." (J. Swaminathan, Link, 26 Feb. 1961, qtd in Ram Kumar: A Journey Within, New Delhi: Vadhera Art Gallery, 1996, p104)

Ram Kumar's visit to Banaras in 1961 marked a change in his creative approach. From a depiction of solitary human figures in the 1950s to cityscape and then to inscapes by the mid-1960s, his late '60s works bordered on abstractionism, yet "...the paintings teem with life and tensile energy. At the close of the decade, architecture disappeared and the works became increasingly expressive and lyrical." (Amrita Jhaveri, A Guide to 101 Modern & Contemporary Indian Artists, Mumbai: India Book House Pvt. Ltd., 2005, pp48-49)

This 1969 work falls in his landscape era. What appears to be an aerial view could also be interpreted as being viewed from within the scene, as if the viewer has been dropped into the midst of this landscape. Kumar's "picturesque period" (Ram Kumar: A Journey Within, New Delhi: Vadhera Art Gallery, 1996, p30) which fell in the latter half of the 60s, shows a blend of pleasant colours, some in pastel shades, representing nature. The work here falls at the cusp of his 60s landscapes and 70s works which were more rhythmic and vivid.

Read More
Artist Profile
Other works of this artist in: this auction  |  entire site