Page 140 - Manifest September 2024

Lot No. 77

RAM KUMAR

1924-2018
UNTITLED
30 x 42 in (76.2 x 106.7 cm)
Oil on canvas
1992
Signed & Dated: Verso
` 60,00,000 - 80,00,000
$ 73,171 - 97,561
Provenance: Property from a collection based
in Mumbai

Ram Kumar, a prominent modernist painter, was
born in 1924 in Simla. Initially aspiring to be a
writer, his artistic journey began in 1945 when he
formally studied art, later moving to New Delhi to
pursue his passion under the guidance of artist
Sailoz Mookherjea. His first solo exhibition at the
YMCA in Shimla in 1949 marked a turning point in
his career. Following this, Kumar traveled to Paris,
where he studied with the renowned artist and writer
André Lhote, whose approach to figurative and still-
life painting profoundly impacted him. During this
period, Kumar was also mentored by the influential
Cubist artist and sculptor Fernand Léger, further
shaping his artistic perspective.
Kumar’s association with the Progressive Artists’
Group, a collective of India’s leading modernists,
including M.F. Husain, F.N. Souza, S.H. Raza, S.K.
Bakre, and H.A. Gade, also significantly influenced
his artistic trajectory. However, despite his early
success in the figurative style, Kumar began to feel
constrained by the form. He found figuration too
restrictive for his evolving artistic vision, which led
him to experiment with abstraction upon his return
to India in 1952. This marked the beginning of his
signature abstract landscapes, which would come to
define his legacy.
His abstract works during this period were deeply
introspective, reflecting his inner emotions and
worldview. The barren landscapes he painted were
imbued with a sense of melancholy, shaped in part
by his feelings of alienation in urban life. These works
were somber and meditative, characterised by a
lyrical quality that conveyed a profound sense of
stillness and desolation.