Ram Kumar - the key voice of Indian modernist art no more

Painting was a private affair for him, he just wasn't interested in price comparisons: Dadiba Pundole on Ram Kumar

Ram Kumar - the key voice of Indian modernist art no more

Ram Kumar

A seminal voice of Indian modernist art, Ram Kumar passed away yesterday in New Delhi. He was 94. The Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri awardee was born in 1924 in Shimla, and studied Economics at St Stephen's College, New Delhi. He took up a full-time job at a bank, only to quit in 1948 to pursue his passion in art. He left for Paris to study painting under French Cubist, Andre Lhote, and painter Fernand Leger.

Known best for his abstract melancholic landscapes, Kumar was among the first generation of post-colonial artists. Though he was a part of Delhi's Silpi Chakra Group, Kumar also came to be associated with the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group, particularly MF Husain and SH Raza, and had several exhibitions in Mumbai.

Kumar in his 40s at MF Husain's studio. Pic/Jehangir nicholson art foundation

Critic Meera Menezes notes, "Kumar forged a unique visual vocabulary, which set him apart from his peers. He was deeply interested in the human condition, and his early figurative works were reflective of the misery he perceived around him. Though his early landscapes were austere and perhaps even sullen, they soon gave way to a more cheerful palette. Ram Kumar developed a unique style of abstraction, rendering his landscapes as jagged planes of colours."

Untitled (Benaras), circa 1960s, by Kumar. Pic/Saffronart

Kumar has been described by many as a reclusive artist, and also wrote extensively in Hindi and English, including novels and a travelogue. He was cremated at the Nigambodh Ghat, New Delhi, yesterday.