Ram Kumar (b. 1924)

two spots of minor paint loss beneath signature along bottom edge, otherwise in good overall condition, colors of original deepr and richer than catalogue illustration with great tonal contrasts, as viewed
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Over the course of the 1960's Ram Kumar's paintings moved towards pure abstraction and by the end of the decade the elements of his landscapes were reduced to barely recognizable forms juxtaposed in shifting vertical and horizontal planes as seen in the present painting. Works from this period mark a decisive stage in Ram Kumar's quest to achieve absolute purity in his works. 'Like a dedicated ascetic Ram Kumar had to undergo the final rite of purification by renouncing not only the human body which he had done earlier but also its habitation on the earth, the city, and make a decisive leap into nature itself.' (Nirmal Verma in Ram Kumar: A Retrospective, New Delhi, Feb. 1994, p. 7).

The artist abandoned the city altogether and instead turned inward to the landscapes of his childhood spent at the foothills of the Himalayas. As he said, "When I sit facing the Dhauladhar range with the thick forests of the Shivaliks at my back, I start probing within myself, my mind full of memories and lost images." (Ram Kumar, rpt. in Ram Kumar: A Journey Within, New Delhi, 1996, p. 27).

In paintings from this period, 'the landscape evolved into a grand metaphor, a crucible of meteorological energies, a dynamic equilibrium poised among tectonic forces of imperious majesty. In these works Ram Kumar began to commemorate vast, epic images: the whirling onslaught of the storm, the grand descent of ragged forests along swollen rivers the bronze echoes of the sun roaring above the cliffs, an eclipse falling like an eagle's shadow across shining glaciers ' (Ranjit Hoskote in Ram Kumar: A Journey Within, New Delhi, 1996,  p. 38).