(23 September, 1924 – 14 April, 2018)
Ram Kumar was renowned Indian modern abstract artists, born in Shimla, 1924. He also received the Padma Shri in 1972 and Padma Bhushan in 2010. He was the first-generation post-colonial artists, a member of progressive artist group alongside S.N. Souza, M.F. Husain and S.H. Raza. He studied art under the guidance of Sailoz Mookherjea in 1948. Kumar Though European styles influenced his work, his subjects were always distinctly Indian.
His early works were figurative, focusing on social realism and depicting the lives of the underprivileged. He began his career painting primarily figurative works until the late 1950s, after which he focused on creating landscapes until his death in 2018. Over time, his paintings featured fewer figures, set against a backdrop of empty areas. The central theme in Ram Kumar's work was the human condition, initially expressed through the depiction of isolated individuals within urban settings. His figurative works from this period retain their muted earth-tone colour palettes but lack recognizable characters, distinctive facial features, costume elements, and urban or landscape backdrops.
Later, his abstract paintings moved away from direct representation, focusing instead on evoking emotions and moods through colour and form. The Indian landscapes and urban scenes also significantly shaped his work. In his artworks, influenced from European modernism and Indian landscapes with abstract style. Most of his artworks are in acrylics. Kumar uses various textures to map out the structure of his art with abstract brushstrokes. One of the famous series is called ‘Varanasi Series’. He described the Varanasi of his own way and style in abstract form. Hindus believes that dying or being cremated in this sacred city leads to liberation instead of being born again in a different form. This belief is somewhat mirrored in Ram Kumar's shift from painting recognizable figures to creating abstract art.
Kumar's works, though influenced by European styles, always featured distinctly Indian subjects. He used colours and subtle shading to simplify forms and ideas into their basic abstract elements. He discovered that abstraction is a key part of Indian art, developing on its own path separate from Western art.
Ram Kumar passed away in 2018
