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"I became familiar for the first time with the new Kashi from the novels of Sarat Chandra when I was a small school boy. Somehow this fascinating, mysterious name was related to old age, widows, the river Ganga and death. At that time I had never dreamt that it would become so significant to me both as an artist as well as a human being, that its shadow will linger on for such a long time" (Ram Kumar: A Journey Within, Vadehra Art, New Delhi,... "I became familiar for the first time with the new Kashi from the novels of Sarat Chandra when I was a small school boy. Somehow this fascinating, mysterious name was related to old age, widows, the river Ganga and death. At that time I had never dreamt that it would become so significant to me both as an artist as well as a human being, that its shadow will linger on for such a long time" (Ram Kumar: A Journey Within, Vadehra Art, New Delhi, 1996, p. 89).

Ram Kumar first visited Banaras in 1960 with fellow artist M.F. Husain to sketch his impressions and experiences of the famed holy city. Speaking about this visit, he notes, "I had gone to Banaras for the first time about 35 years ago... Every sight was like a new composition, a still life artistically organized to be interpreted in colours. It was not merely outward appearances which were fascinating but they were vibrant with an inner life of their own, very deep and profound, which left an everlasting impression on my artistic sensibility. I could feel a new visual language emerging from the depths of an experience" (Ibid.).

Even though the impression that Banaras first made on Ram Kumar has stayed with the artist ever since his first visit to the city, his artistic response to the city has evolved over the decades. The present lot, with its clearly defined architectural structures, was painted following another trip there in the late 1980s, and reflects this evolution of the image of Banaras in Ram Kumar's art. "During the last 30 years I have visited Banaras several times and every time my experiences have been different. It was only inevitable that my interpretations of those experiences also changed according to changing pictorial concepts in my paintings. In the late 80's I had gone to Banaras for a few days. I had done some drawings there. When I came back to Delhi, I decided to paint them realistically, as close to the drawings as possible, without any distortions. I did about ten of them and then stopped. I thought, I will show the 'spirit' of Banaras..." (as quoted in Gagan Gill "The Artist at Work: An Interview with Ram Kumar", Ibid., p. 191).

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