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Lot 25

 

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Moved by the setting and landscapes he encountered on a trip to Banaras in the 1960s, Ram Kumar abandoned his previous figurative paintings. He embarked in a new direction, in an attempt to express the emotions evoked by landscapes. The present lot eschews categorisation, striking a fine balance between the abstract and the representational. The critic Sham Lal writes of Kumar's work, "The sense of quiet that pervades his work invites... Moved by the setting and landscapes he encountered on a trip to Banaras in the 1960s, Ram Kumar abandoned his previous figurative paintings. He embarked in a new direction, in an attempt to express the emotions evoked by landscapes. The present lot eschews categorisation, striking a fine balance between the abstract and the representational. The critic Sham Lal writes of Kumar's work, "The sense of quiet that pervades his work invites contemplation, not a gaze." (as quoted in Uma Prakash, Ram Kumar: Selected Works 1950 - 2010, New Delhi: Vadehra Art Gallery, 2010, p. 21)

With an absence of figures and recognisable features, the landscape is neither site-specific nor bound by time. The painting reveals glimpses of architecture through blocks of blue, black, brown and grey against a largely monochromatic background. Its palette echoes that seen in Kumar's work over the following decades. Kumar explains his approach to landscape painting stating, "The landscape haunted me for quite some time. Later when I tried to paint my impressions on canvas, I could not imagine any colors. The eternal silence of a wasted, barren earth which refused to compromise with man could not be visualised in any other colours except grey and black and white." (Prakash, p. 9)

Bilwa Chowdhury and Eleonore Chowdhury-Haberl

Bilwa Kanta Chowdhury, an industrialist, and his wife Eleonore (Laura) Chowdhury-Haberl were among the first collectors of modern Indian art in Bombay in the '50s and '60s. Born in 1935 in Klagenfurt, Austria, Eleonore married Bilwa in 1957 and moved to Mumbai. Bilwa, or Bill, as he was known to those close to him, was deeply involved in the art world from the late 1950s. He began collecting Indian art following an interaction with Georg Schafer, an important German art collector, during a training session in Germany. Eleonore remembers her husband as "one of the first serious collectors of Indian paintings in Bombay... all through the sixties." (Laura Chowdhury-Haberl, "A Progressive Patron," Art India, Vol. 7, Issue 3, Quarter 3, Mumbai: Art India Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., 2002, p. 50) Through him, she became involved with the work of many leading modernists, and participated actively in the art scene till the late '70s.

The Chowdhurys built an extensive collection of modern Indian art throughout the '60s and '70s. Their first painting was a still-life by K H Ara, which they bought in 1959. Over the next two decades, they had expanded their collection to include most of the significant artists of that era. "In those days we collectors did not really see art as an investment. We bought art for art's sake and never with the thought in mind, that the painting would be worth much more in the future. In fact no one ever thought that the paintings would be worth anything. We were considered quite crazy by most of our friends... visitors to our home frequently asked whether I was the painter, because they could not understand that anybody would actually be willing to spend money on modern Indian art," Chowdhury-Haberl recollected in her article for Art India.

The Chowdhurys sought out art passionately, be it at the studios of artists, or at art galleries. They attended almost every art exhibition at the Jehangir Art Gallery, and regularly visited the Taj Art Gallery and Gallery Chemould-the only art galleries at the time. Their home became a hub for the Modernists, who dropped by regularly and discussed art and art books at length with them. The Chowdhurys' circle included Rudy von Leyden and Emanuel Schlesinger, and art connoisseurs Karl Khandalavala and Octavio Paz, who frequented their home.

Bill also played an important role in influencing Jehangir Nicholson to begin collecting Indian art. In 1976, the Chowdhurys sold a part of their vast collection to him. These paintings are part of the Jehangir Nicholson Foundation in the CSMVS Museum in Mumbai, and some are now a part of other collections in India, the UK and the United States. The Chowdhury Collection is now divided between Mumbai and Vienna, where Eleonore moved in 1980. Since then, in addition to Art India, she has published articles in the Austrian magazines Wiener Zeitung and Parnass, and lectured on modern Indian art in Vienna.

This lot has been part of the Chowdhury family collection.

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