Ram Kumar

Born in 1924 in Simla, Ram Kumar was one of India's leading modernists. He studied Economics at St. Stephens College, New Delhi, in 1946. After this, he went to Paris to study painting with Andre Lhote and Fernand Leger from 1949 to 1952.

Ram Kumar, like many of his colleagues in the first generation of postcolonial Indian artists - among them figures such as F N Souza, M F Husain, Paritosh Sen, Jehangir Sabavala, Krishen Khanna, S H Raza, and Akbar Padamsee - combined an internationalist desire with the need to belong to their homeland emphatically. In its internationalist mood, this generation sought inspiration from the modernisms of the early 20th century in Paris, London, and Vienna; his need to belong sparked an interest in constructing a viable Indian aesthetic that had a dynamic relationship with an Indian identity. For Ram Kumar, this search for an indigenist tenor has not meant a superficial inventory of native motifs offered as evidence of a static and essentialist Indian identity. Instead, as I have already suggested, he demonstrates that a painter can represent the most intimate dramas of his culture while maintaining the individuality, and even the idiosyncrasy, of his interpretation.

Ram Kumar's art, which has developed through an alternation of joyful expressiveness and unsettling reticence, plays a crucial polarity of emphasis in the context of Indian culture between samsara, sensual participation in the world of events, and nirvana, the ascetic breath. by desire. Having renounced the active engagement with the state and civil society that had previously characterized his position, the artist has gradually turned inward, choosing to be an inner exile of the spirit. This retreat gives him the space to reflect on the great natural forces that have captivated him since his childhood, and to evaluate their symbolic importance in his functioning; He feels the deepest intrigue of time as Kala, the destroyer of worlds. Attentive to the ceremonies of decay, alert to the processes of transformation, he finds himself at that threshold where the anguish of the private self is sublimated in the universal rhythm of creation and destruction.

If Ram Kumar's art has been a journey from the city to the landscape, from the social obligations of the grihastha to the peripatetic freedom of the sannyasin, it has also been an art of looking back, an art of reminiscence. By moving away from places he has known intimately, the artist takes with him spasms of agitation that he will remember in tranquility so that the images that time has destroyed are recovered and the words lost in the wind can be strung together again. , in songs. Do we see evidence, in Ram Kumar's most recent work, of a reconciliation between householder and renunciate, city and landscape? In the paintings he has executed since the late 1990s, the architecture of the tomb has been replaced by the architecture of the temple. The town was built next to the river. This is surely an idealized Varanasi as tirtha, the ford that signifies a place of pilgrimage in Indian culture, the point where settlement meets openness, and the pilgrim self makes the crossing from locality to cosmos, from earthly to the transcendent, from time to eternity.

Ram Kumar's recent paintings also attest to another type of reconciliation, since the aesthetic experience belongs, eventually, to the realm of samsara rather than that of nirvana, it cannot be defined only by the severity of the structure, the impulse towards the voluptuous is insinuated. even to the most severe asceticism. Motivated by one pole of his sensibility, Ram Kumar has often acted as an inquisitor of structures (the phrase is Wallace Stevens), translating the Earth into the language of the topographic map, so that a topographic code of contours and points reference constricts the depths. landscape saturations. But he has also been tempted to swing toward the other, romantic pole of his sensibility, passionately and unabashedly delighting in the physicality of sight, its capacity for moodiness and unstable beauty; He has celebrated the blush of the magnolias in bloom, the pregnant slopes carried by the clouds.

The dialogue between these opposite poles has enriched and replenished Ram Kumar's work: his strict geometry and his contemplation of mortality now give priority to the celebration of sensuality, the consolation of the beautiful. The real theme of Ram Kumar's art, perhaps, is the landscape as Beloved. Responding to the palpable eroticism of the rubbing and blurring, the stippling and splattering of textures across these painted surfaces, we share in his manifest ecstasy, his sense of stepping outside of himself to achieve communion with the Beloved.

Excerpts from Parts of a World Reflections on the Art of Ram Kumar by Ranjit Hoskote, 2002

The artist died on April 14, 2018.

BORN

1924 Shimla, Himachal Pradesh

DIED

April 14, 2018 New Delhi

EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS

1949-52 Studied painting with Andre Lhote and Fernand Leger, Paris

1946 Master's Degree in Economics from St. Stephens College, University of Delhi, New Delhi

1945 Sharada Ukil School of Art, New Delhi

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2016 Ram Kumar Traversing the Landscapes of the Mind, Saffronart, New Delhi

2014 Ramkumar drawings from the 1960s, Aakriti Art Gallery, Kolkata, New Delhi

2013 Ram Kumar and the Bombay Progressives Form and Figure Part I, Aicon Gallery, New York

2012 Drawings, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2011 Ram Kumar A Retrospective, Aicon Gallery, London

2011 Chawla Art Gallery, New Delhi

2010-11 Selected works 1949-2010, presented by Vadehra Art Gallery at Rabindra Bhavan, Lalit Kala Akademi, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2010 Ram Kumar A Retrospective, Aicon Gallery, New York

2009 Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2008 Tribute to Kekoo Gandhy, Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai

2008 Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2007 Reflective Landscapes, Aicon Gallery, New York

2006 Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2005 Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

2005 Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2003 Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2002 Saffronart and Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai, New Delhi, San Francisco, New York

2001 Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2000 Landscapes of New Zealand, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

1999 Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1998 A gallery, New York

1997 Arks Gallery, London

1997 Amdavad Ni Gufa, Ahmedabad

1996 Pages from a sketchbook, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1996 Ram Kumar An Inner Journey, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

1993 Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

1992 Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

1992 Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1991 Chitrakoot Gallery, Calcutta

1990 Pundole Art Gallery, Bombay

1990 Center for Contemporary Art, New Delhi

1988 Works on paper, Alliance Francaise, New Delhi

1986 Pundole Art Gallery, Bombay

1984 Pundole Art Gallery, Bombay

1983 Pundole Art Gallery, Bombay

1983 Sarla Art Centre, Chennai

1983 Works on paper, Miskole, Hungary

1981 Works on paper, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1980 Artistic Heritage, New Delhi

1979 Chanakya Gallery, New Delhi

1978 Pundole Art Gallery, Bombay

1977 Chanakya Gallery, New Delhi

1976 Pundole Art Gallery, Bombay

1974 Chemould Gallery, Mumbai

1973 Pundole Art Gallery, Bombay

1971 Pundole Art Gallery, Bombay

1968 Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi

1966 Chemould Gallery, Mumbai

1966 Grosvenor Gallery, London

1965 Kunika Art Center, New Delhi

1964 Chemould Gallery, Mumbai

1963 Kunika Art Center, New Delhi

1960 Wax and ink on paper after his first visit to Banaras, Kumar Gallery, New Delhi

1959 Kumar Gallery, New Delhi

1958 Warsaw and Krakow

1957 Alliance Francaise, New Delhi

1953 Alliance Francaise, Mumbai

1949 YMCA Hall, Shimla

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2014 Immutable Gaze Part I Masterpieces of Modern and Pre-Modern Indian Art, Aicon Gallery, New York

2013 Pioneers of Modernism, Sovereign FZE, Dubai

2013 Ideas of the Sublime, presented by Vadehra Art Gallery at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

2013 Nothing is Absolute A Journey Through Abstraction, Jehangir Nicholson Gallery at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), Mumbai

2013 The Discerning Eye Modern Masters, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2012 Iconic Processions, Aicon Gallery, New York

Gallery Collection 2012, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2012 Aqua, Beyond Gallery, Mumbai

2012 Contemporary A selection of modern and contemporary art, presented by Sakshi Gallery at The Park, Chennai

2012 Through the Ages, South Asian Sculpture and Painting from Antiquity to Modernism, Aicon Gallery, New York

Sightings from 2012, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai

2011-12 Reprise 2011, Aicon Gallery, New York

2011 Modern Masters, Aicon Gallery, New York

2011 POP Progressives on Paper, Aicon Gallery, New York

2011 Anecdotes, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai

2011 Master Class, Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi

2010 Paper Trails, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2010 The Progressives & Associates, Grosvenor Gallery, London

2010 From miniature to modern traditions in transition, Rob Dean Art, London in association with Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

2010 Master Class, The Arts Trust, Mumbai

2009 Indian Art after Independence Selected works from the collections of Virginia and Ravi Akhoury and Shelley and Donald Rubin, Emily Lowe Gallery, Hempstead

2009 Progressive to Altermodern 62 Years of Indian Modern Art, Grosvenor Gallery, London

2009 Charting Time, Bodhi Art, Mumbai

2009 Moderns and more, Aicon Gallery, Palo Alto

2008 Modern and Contemporary Indian Art, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2008 Post-Independence Masters, Aicon Gallery, New York

2008 Freedom 2008 - Sixty Years of Indian Independence, Center for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata

2006 Shadow Lines, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2006 Moderns Revisited, Grosvenor Vadehra, London

2005 Ashta Nayak Eight Pioneers of Indian Art, Aicon Gallery, New York

2004 Concept and Form, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2001 Ashta Nayak, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai

2001 Modern Indian Art, organized by Saffronart and Pundole Art Gallery, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York

1997 Image-Beyond Image, traveling exhibition of works from the Glenbarra Art Museum, Japan, in New Delhi, Calcutta, Bangalore and Mumbai. 

1996 The Moderns, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai

1991 Remembering Kali Pundole, joint exhibition with M. F. Husain, V. S. Gaitonde, Akbar Padamsee and Krishen Khanna, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1988 Three Indian artists, Karachi, Pakistan

1971 Ten Indian Artists, traveling exhibition in the USA

1958 Eight Indian Artists, Graham Gallery, New York

1958 Seven Indian Painters in Europe, Gallery One, London

1958 Graphic exhibition with M. F. Husain, Tyeb Mehta and V. S. Gaitonde, Mumbai

1952 Delhi Shilpi Chakra, New Delhi

SELECTED RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITIONS

1994 National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Jehangir Art Gallery (Roading Exhibition), organized by Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

1993 From 1949 to 1993 at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi, organized by Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

1986 From 1953 to 1986 at Art Heritage, New Delhi, organized by Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1986 Museum of Contemporary Art, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal

1985 Artistic Heritage, New Delhi

1980 From 1953 to 1980, Birla Museum, Calcutta

SELECTED JOINT EXHIBITIONS

2012 Eternal Landscapes, with Paresh Maity presented by ICIA at The Arts Trust, Mumbai

1995 With Jogen Chowdhury, Raku Gallery, Japan

1967 With MF Husain, Geeta Gallery, New Delhi

1967 With M. F. Husain, Prague

PARTICIPATIONS

2015 Selections of Abby Gray and Indian Modernism from the New York University Art Collection, Gray Art Gallery, New York University, New York

2014 Ode to Monumental Celebration, Visuality, and Ideology, presented by Saffronart at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, and Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

2012-13 Radical Modernist Art from India, Rubin Museum of Art, New York

2012 Art for Humanity, Coomaraswamy Hall, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai

2012 Indian Modernist Art Approaching Abstraction, Rubin Museum of Art, New York

2012 Crossings Time Unfolded, Part 2, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi

2011 Ethos V Indian Art through the Lens of History (1900 to 1980), Indigo Blue Art, Singapore

2011 Manifestations VI, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi

2011 Roots in the Air, Branches Below Modern and Contemporary Art from India, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose

2011 Time Unfolded, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi

2011 Celebrations 2011, Kumar Gallery, New Delhi

2010 Manifestations IV, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi

2010 Art Celebrates 2010 Sports and the City, represented by Vadehra Art Gallery at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, coinciding with the celebration of the Commonwealth Games

2010 Evolve 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai

Annual Exhibition 2010, Chawla Art Gallery, New Delhi

2010 Celebration 2010, Annual Exhibition, Kumar Art Gallery, New Delhi

2008-09 Peace Mandala, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

2008-09 Expanding Horizons Contemporary Indian Art, traveling exhibition presented by Bodhi Art at Ravinder Natya Mandir, P.L.Despande Kala Academy Art Gallery, Mumbai, Sant Dyaneshwar Natya Sankul Art Gallery, Amravati, Platinum Jubilee Hall, Nagpur, Tapadia Natya Mandir Sports Hall, Aurangabad, Hirachand Nemchand Vachanalays, Solapur, Acharya Vidyanand Sanskrutik Bhavan, Kolhapur, PGSR Sabhagriha, SNDT, Pune, Sarvajanik Vachanalaya Hall, Nasik

2008 Moderns, Royal Cultural Centre, Amman, Jordan organized by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi in collaboration with Embassy of India, Amman, Jordan

1987 Heartbeats, Geneva

1985 Artistes Indien en France, Nationale des Arts Plastiques, Paris, Festival of India in France

1982 The Gesture and Motif, UK India Festival, Royal Academy of Arts, London

1980 Contemporary Asian Artists, Fukuoka Museum of Art, Japan

1979 Sao Paulo Biennial

1973 Contemporary Indian Art, traveling exhibition USA

1959 Sao Paulo Biennial

1959 Tokyo Biennale, Japan

1958 Venice Biennale, Italy

1957 Tokyo Biennale, Japan

HONORS AND AWARD

2010 Padma Bhushan of the Government of India

2003 Arts and Letters Officers, French Government

1986 Kalidas Samman, Madhya Pradesh state government

1972 Premchand Puraskar, State Government of Uttar Pradesh for Meri Priya Kahaniyan, a collection of short stories in Hindi

1972 Padmashree, Government of India

1970 JD Rockefeller III Scholarship, New York

1959 Honorable Mention, Sao Paulo Biennial

1958 National Award, New Delhi

1956 National Award, New Delhi

artist ram kumar painting