In the late 1950s, a change occurred in Ram Kumar`s aesthetic practice. The melancholy, frail human forms that had peopled his canvases began to melt away from his paintings, giving way to haunting landscapes. This shift in focus was the result of a corresponding ideological metamorphosis. Kumar was no longer concerned with representing individual instances of suffering; he sought instead to portray the archetypical principles...
In the late 1950s, a change occurred in Ram Kumar`s aesthetic practice. The melancholy, frail human forms that had peopled his canvases began to melt away from his paintings, giving way to haunting landscapes. This shift in focus was the result of a corresponding ideological metamorphosis. Kumar was no longer concerned with representing individual instances of suffering; he sought instead to portray the archetypical principles of human nature.
In this mysterious rendition, the brooding gloom evokes a sense of spiritual desolation. "By banishing the figure from his kingdom of shadows, the artist was able to emphasize the nullification of humanity, and to deploy architecture and landscape as metaphors articulating cultural and psychological fragmentation, the bondage of an imposed destiny that strangled." (p. 6, Ranjit Hoskote, "Parts of a World", Ram Kumar, Saffron Art and Pundole Art Gallery, Exhibition Catalogue, 2002)