{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O434313"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O434313/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2013GT2587/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2013GT2587/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2013GT2587","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O434313","accessionNumber":"IS.109-1985","objectType":"Painting","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"The painting, executed in black ink and white gouache, depicts a string of unpeopled, box-like, and undifferentiated houses seen across an expanse of flat, open ground. One can observe the 'sikhara' of a small temple or shrine among the buildings towards the left. The artist has depicted the little houses adjacent to one another, possibly suggesting the promiscuity and density that one finds in urban conglomerates. Unlike the works of Amrita Sher-Gil and Nandalal Bose, where peasants and tribesmen are inserted in timeless, pastoral settings, often untainted by idustrialization, Kumar's village appears gloomy and dreary. The blue and grey colours could perhaps indicate the materials used to fabricate the small habitations, such as tin sheets and corrugated iron. \r\n\r\nSince 1985, Kumar's work has been predominantly abstract, or hovering on the verge of abstract and figurative rendering of landscape. In the early 1960s particularly, compositions based on the geometry of groups of buildings, and the configurations of light and shadow they generated, became and important concern. The present work, executed with broad and loose brushstrokes, is reminiscent of Western expressionist painting techniques. \r\n\r\nUnlike the expressionists however, Kumar adopts a restricted tonality. Although obviously a finished work, it perhaps represents a transitional stage in the compositional development of one of the non-figurative oil paintings on which he tends to concentrate.","physicalDescription":"The painting, executed in black ink and white gouache, depicts a string of unpeopled, box-like, and undifferentiated houses seen across an expanse of flat, open ground. One can observe the <i>sikhara</i> (tower) of a small temple or shrine among the buildings towards the left. The artist has depicted the little houses adjacent to one another, possibly suggesting the promiscuity and density that one finds in urban conglomerates. Unlike the works of Amrita Sher-Gil and Nandalal Bose, where peasants and tribesmen are inserted in timeless, pastoral settings, often untainted by industrialization, Kumar's village appears gloomy and dreary. The blue and grey colours could perhaps indicate the materials used to fabricate the small habitations, such as tin sheets and corrugated iron. \r\n\r\nSince 1985, Kumar's work has been predominantly abstract, or hovering on the verge of abstract and figurative rendering of landscape. In the early 1960s particularly, compositions based on the geometry of groups of buildings, and the configurations of light and shadow they generated, became and important concern. The present work, executed with broad and loose brushstrokes, is reminiscent of Western expressionist painting techniques. \r\n\r\nUnlike the expressionists however, Kumar adopts a restricted tonality. Although obviously a finished work, it perhaps represents a transitional stage in the compositional development of one of the non-figurative oil paintings on which he tends to concentrate.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Ram Kumar","id":"A27436"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"ink","id":"AAT15012"},{"text":"gouache","id":"AAT70114"},{"text":"paint","id":"AAT15029"},{"text":"paper","id":"AAT14109"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painted","id":"AAT54216"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Painted in black ink and white gouache on paper","categories":[{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"},{"text":"Bonita Trust Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project","id":"THES263148"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2013GT2587"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"PO013","id":"THES403394"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"painting","id":"AAT33618"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Mumbai","id":"x30829"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1983","earliest":"1983-01-01","latest":"1983-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"84","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"106","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Signed and dated 1983."}],"objectHistory":"Purchased from Sarah Abraham. RF: 84/106 and 1997/861","historicalContext":"Ram Kumar was born in Simla in 1924 into a middle class family. In 1943 Kumar went to Delhi University gaining a Masters degree in Economics. While studying Economics, Kumar joined the Delhi Sarada Ukil School of Art. In 1947, after a brief stint as a banker, Kumar took up a variety of jobs, including free-lance writing and painting. \r\n\r\nIn 1948, while studying at Sarada Ukil, he was spotted by abstract artist Raza, a member of the Bombay based Progressive Artist Group. The artist, impressed by Kumar’s work, encouraged him to come to Bombay to meet the other members of the group and begin his career. In Bombay, the artist did not gain the success he had hoped for and shortly after, set off for Paris. Here, he was introduced by the young communist poet, Jaques Dubois, into a Parisian circle of bohemian poets and writers, including Surrealist writers Louis Aragon, Paul Eluard and Roger Garaudy. \r\n\r\nFrom 1950-52, the artist studied painting under French cubist artists Andre Lhote and the communist Fernand Leger. Increasingly drawn towards communist ideals, Kumar travelled to Hungary to meet Marxist literary critic George Lukacs. This meeting deepened his faith in communist theory fostering his need to formulate a humanistic approach towards art, literature and politics. Increasingly, Kumar believed that an artist should cater for the needs of society, fostering political awareness among viewers. In 1951 he returned to India where he gained critical acclaim and received many governmental awards including the Padma Shri (1971). Alongside his painterly activities, Kumar also wrote four collections of stories, two novels, a book of travelogues and reminiscences. \r\n\r\nIn his paintings, Kumar focuses on the human condition and the alienating effects that urbanization and modernity have brought about. Until 1958, the artist depicted Indian metropolises populated by bleak and hopeless-looking city-dwellers. However by the end of the fifties, Kumar eliminated the human figure from his urban landscapes altogether. By contrast, the artist began to cram his dilapidated cityscapes with ugly houses. During this period, he developed a more abstract visual vocabulary, using sweeping strokes of paint to either evoke the oppressive brutality of urban domestic life or the redeeming beauty of natural spaces. Later, Kumar opted for a more colourful palette, introducing brilliant colours such as golden ochre, blue and yellow. \r\n\r\nKumar has held several solo exhibitions. His work has been included in several International Biennales, in Tokyo in 1957 and 1970, the Venice Biennale 1958 and in Sao Paulo in 1961, 1965 and 1972. He has also participated in the Festival of India shows in the then USSR and Japan in 1987 and 1988. The artist lives and works in New Delhi.","briefDescription":"Painting, Indian village, by Ram Kumar, black ink and white gouache on paper, Mumbai, 1983","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Kapur Geeta, Modern Indian Painting, New Delhi, 1978"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Geeta Kapur, Six Contemporary Indian Artists, Vikas publishing house, 1978"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"R. Bartholomew, The abstract principle in the paintings of Ram Kumar 19-20, LKC, 1975-76, pp 9-14"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"A string of unpeopled, box-like, and undifferentiated houses seen across an expanse of flat, open ground. One can observe the tower of a small temple or shrine among the buildings towards the left.","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"houses","id":"AAT5433"},{"text":"temple","id":"AAT7595"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["IS.109-1985"],"accessionNumberNum":"109","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1985,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-11-25","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-25","availableToBook":true}}