Ram Kumar
(1924 - 2018)
Leh
Ram Kumar visited Ladakh twice, in 1976 and 1993, each time painting a series of works afterward inspired by the colours of the stark mountains and arid landscape, as seen in the present lot. The artist says, "The landscape haunted me for quite some time. Later when I tried to paint my impressions on canvas, I could not imagine any colors. Th e eternal silence of a wasted, barren earth which refused to compromise with man could not be visualized...
Ram Kumar visited Ladakh twice, in 1976 and 1993, each time painting a series of works afterward inspired by the colours of the stark mountains and arid landscape, as seen in the present lot. The artist says, "The landscape haunted me for quite some time. Later when I tried to paint my impressions on canvas, I could not imagine any colors. Th e eternal silence of a wasted, barren earth which refused to compromise with man could not be visualized in any other colors except grey and black and white." (Artist quoted in Uma Prakash, Ram Kumar: Selected Works 1950-2010, New Delhi: Vadehra Art Gallery, 2010, p. 9) The artist is well-known for painting abstract-sometimes desolate, yet meditative-landscapes inspired by his travels around the world. The present lot, painted in 1980 following his first visit to the Leh district in Ladakh, is part of his long spiritual journey that began with Benares in the sixties. "It was a lifelong eff ort to find some harmony between a rich, throbbing 'spiritually-visited' nature and the secret, fleeting thoughts of an artist." (Artist quoted in Prakash, p. 13)"As I began to paint, the landscapes came naturally and gradually, the outlines faded into abstracts... There is an enigmatic mystery about the inner life of a colour applied on canvas. It stands out by itself in the beginning but slowly it starts building up relationships with other areas, other colours, and forms. This continues. There is a pause, a silence, an accident and in the end some sort of harmony." - RAM KUMAR
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Lot
97
of
119
SUMMER ONLINE AUCTION
6-7 JUNE 2017
Estimate
Rs 90,00,000 - 1,20,00,000
$140,625 - 187,500
Winning Bid
Rs 1,08,00,000
$168,750
(Inclusive of Buyer's Premium)
ARTWORK DETAILS
Ram Kumar
Leh
Signed and dated 'Ram Kumar 1980' (on the reverse)
1980
Oil on canvas
72.75 x 51.5 in (185 x 130.5 cm)
PROVENANCE: Acquired directly from the artist Property of a Gentleman, New Delhi
EXHIBITED:Ram Kumar: Selected Works 1950-2010 , New Delhi: Lalit Kala Akademi, 14 - 20 December 2010; Vadehra Art Gallery, 23 December - 10 January 2011 PUBLISHED: Uma Prakash, Ram Kumar: Selected Works 1950-2010 , New Delhi: Vadehra Art Gallery, p.79 (illustrated)
Category: Painting
Style: Abstract
ARTWORK SIZE:
Height of Figure: 6'