FOREWORD

“There is an enigmatic mystery about the inner life of a colour applied on canvas.”

This observation by Ram Kumar reflects the lyrical nature of his thought and art, and also provides an insight into the life of this quiet and contemplative artist and poet. His work, whether it was the early figurative paintings from the 1950s or his later landscapes and abstracts, was infused with a characteristic poetry and nuances of discovery for the viewer.

This exhibition provides a glimpse across Ram Kumar’s oeuvre, underscoring his critical position in developing the vocabulary of modern Indian art. This collection is our tribute to a pioneering artist and writer, with whom we have shared a long association and an enduring friendship.

Ram’s work has played an important part in Saffronart’s journey from its very inception in 2000 as we showed his art online for the first time. In May of the following year, we organised the largest global exhibition of modern Indian art at the time, in association with Pundole Art Gallery in New York. The collection included landscapes by Ram Kumar painted between 1975 and 2001 and showcased him to a new generation of collectors. In 2002, Saffronart featured a solo exhibition of his works in San Francisco and New York. This was the first time that Ram Kumar had returned to the US in decades, and through dialogues about his art with the exhibition, he drew fantastic critical acclaim. Most recently, Saffronart hosted a solo exhibition of the artist’s paper works, titled Traversing the Landscapes of the Mind, in 2016-17 in New Delhi and Mumbai, reminding us of early conversations, new ideas, and the quiet, magnetic presence of Ram Kumar’s thought and creation.

We would like to thank all those who have loaned works for this exhibition, including the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, the Pundole Family Collection, and Ann and Michael Williams.

Special thanks to Mr. Utpal Verma for his keen interest in the exhibition and the generous loan of framed photographs and archival materials.

Finally, our gratitude to our colleagues at Saffronart for their support in making this exhibition possible.

- Minal and Dinesh Vazirani