60-61 / 168
60
61
PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN, NEW DELHI
30
RAM KUMAR
(b. 1924)
Untitled
Signed in Devnagari and dated ‘61’ (lower left); signed
and dated ‘Ram Kumar 1961’ (on the reverse)
1961
Oil on canvas
26.5 x 26.5 in (67 x 67 cm)
Rs 65,00,000 ‒ 85,00,000
$ 97,015 ‒ 126,870
PROVENANCE:
Acquired directly from the artist
In the artist’s own words, “Benares is important
for me both as an artist and as a human being,
the first paintings came at a point when I wanted
to develop elements in figurative painting and
go beyond it, my first visit to the city invoked an
emotional reaction as it had peculiar associations.
But such romantic ideas were dispelled when
I came face to face with reality. There was so
much pain and sorrow of humanity. As an artist
it became a challenge to portray this agony and
suffering, its intensity required the use of symbolic
motifs, so my Benares is of a representative sort.”
(Seema Bawa, “Ram Kumar: Artistic Intensity of
an Ascetic,”
artetc.com, February 2012, online)