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Ram Kumar’s abstract landscapes capture the essence of place
without the use of identifiable built structures. Writing of the
complex quality of Kumar’s work, critic Richard Bartholomew
says, “When I see a Ram Kumar painting... I get the feeling that I’ve
been there before... The very forms of the composition suggest
that. The hard and the soft, the tangible and the elusive, the
structure and the sensation... Ram’s work draws us into its field
of vision, involving us visually, stimulating us to see this detail
or that... There is great depth, in perspective and feeling. The
experience encountered is extremely refined. A reductive principle
in composition and an immaculate technique determine the
scale.” (Rati Bartholomew, Pablo Bartholomew, Carmen Kagal and
Rosalyn D’Mello eds.,
Richard Bartholomew: The Art Critic
, Noida:
BART, 2012, p. 536) The present lot has the power to evoke this
sense of place without specifying what that place might be.
63
RAM KUMAR
(b. 1924)
Untitled
Oil on canvas
45 x 70 in (114 x 178 cm)
Rs 70,00,000 ‒ 90,00,000
$ 111,115 ‒ 142,860
PROVENANCE:
Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai, 1979
Private Collection, Mumbai
Private Collection, Delhi
EXHIBITED:
Masterpieces of Indian Modern Art
, New
York: DAG Modern, 8 March ‒ 4 June 2016
62
BADRI NARAYAN
(1929 ‒ 2013)
Untitled
Initialled in Devnagari (lower right)
Oil on canvas
59 x 59 in (150 x 150 cm)
Rs 25,00,000 ‒ 35,00,000
$ 39,685 ‒ 55,560
PROVENANCE:
Sotheby's, New York, 18 September 2008, lot 52
Private Collection, New Delhi