124-125 / 184
124
125
PROPERTY FROM THE DIRK AND HIXE
ANGELROTH COLLECTION, AUSTRIA
59
RAM KUMAR
(b. 1924)
Goa Landscape
Signed and dated 'Ram Kumar 1976'
and inscribed 'Goa Landscape' (on the
reverse)
1976
Oil on canvas
20 x 44.25 in (50.8 x 112.3 cm)
Rs 50,00,000 ‒ 70,00,000
$ 79,370 ‒ 111,115
PROVENANCE
Acquired from Pundole Art Gallery,
Mumbai, 1976
The Angelroths bid goodbye to the Ram Kumar painting in Austria as they continue their international travels.
Image courtesy of the family
"As I began to paint, the
landscapes came naturally
and gradually, the outlines
faded into abstracts..."
RAM KUMAR
DIRK AND HIXE ANGELROTH
Born in Würzburg, Germany, Dirk Angelroth grew up in
Gifhorn and Braunschweig, and studied journalism, German
literature, and history at the universities of Würzburg, Berlin
and Vienna.
After graduating, he and his wife Hixe, joined the Goethe‒
Institut, a global non‒profit organisation promoting the
study of German language and fostering cultural relations
abroad. From 1965 to 2002, Angelroth worked at the
organisation’s branches in Chennai, Mumbai, and Pune in
India, as well as in Jakarta, Karachi, Manila, Göttingen, and
Melbourne. Angelroth was the director at most of these
branches, and well‒respected and beloved among his
peers. Angelroth is also the author of two books of short
stories and anecdotes from India, Pakistan and Southeast
Asia,
The White Lady in the Tree
and
The Flight to Uluru
(
Die
weisse Frau im Baum
and
Der Flug zum Uluru
).
The Angelroth’s relationship with India has continued over
the years, and the couple divide their time between Austria
and Goa. Lots 59 and 60 were acquired by the Angelroths
at a solo exhibition of Ram Kumars’s new work in Mumbai
in the late 1970s. Both paintings have been a part of their
international lifestyle and have graced their home in Austria
since the Angelroths retired.
Goa does not feature too often in Ram Kumar’s
work, which is dominated by his continued
involvement with Benaras. This Goan landscape
from the 1970s, painted in a large, horizontal
format is a departure from Kumar’s other work.
Land mass and water, sterns and masts of boats
are still decipherable in this semi‒abstract
composition. Brighter tones of browns and blues
are used to recreate this place on the water, which
is like Kumar’s Benaras in construction, but not in
the mood it evokes.
The Angelroths at the farewell party of their final posting in Karachi, 2001
Image courtesy of the family