Ram Kumar (b. 1924)

The mountains have always been an important part of Ram Kumar's mental landscape. As they are an integral part of his paintings, they are also a strong influence in his writings, forming part of his "fictional landscape." After a period of absence, they have reappeared in Ram Kumar's paintings of the last decade, returning with tremendous emotional content: "They symbolized peace and inner security, as if by returning to them, one can salvage a spark of happiness." (N. Verma, 'From Solitude to Salvation', Ram Kumar: A Retrospective, New Delhi, Vadehra Art Gallery, February 1994, p. 7.) His mountains have however undergone a transformation. In the same way that he distances himself from the emotional side of a human figure, he "abstracts" the image of the mountains, so that he has "released them from the fixed memory of his childhood and thus eternalized them as something which is a part of nature." (N. Verma, ibid.)

These landscapes are the third and final step in Ram Kumar's journey toward achieving absolute purity in his paintings. "Like a dedicated ascetic, Ram Kumar had to undergo the final rite of purification by renouncing not only the human-body which he had done earlier, but also its habitation on the earth, the city, and make a decisive leap into nature itself." (N. Verma, ibid.) His works are not built on denial, rather they have "transcended" and been lifted on a higher plane where they are viewed in a different context.