Ramkinkar Baij: A Restrospective (1906 to 1980)

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About the Book Ramkinkar Ball was born on the 25th of May 1906 in Bankuta in West Bengal, into family of linie economic and social standing, and grew, by sheer dint of talent and determination, into one of the most distinguished early modernists in India art. As a young boy he grew up watching local crafismen and image-makers at work; and making small clay figurines and paintings with whatever came his way. His talent, prodigion for his attracted the anention of local people, especially of the nationalis with whom he was associated. This led him in 1925, on the advice of Ramananda Chatterjee the nationalist publisher and apologist for the new Indian arr movement, to make his way to Kala Bhavana, the an school at Santiniketan. Ar Santiniketan, under the guidance of Nandalal Bose and encouraged by in liberating Intellectual environment, shaped by Rabindranath Tagore, his anisic skills and intellectual horizons acquired new depth and complexity: Soon after completing his studies at Kala Bhavana he became a member of its faculty. and along with Nandalal and Benodchehari Mukherjee played a decisive role in making Santiniketan the most importane cerare for modest ans in pre- Independent India Saminiketan was conceived as a focals for anistle experimention and resurgence rather than as a mere centre for imparting training and knowledge. This allowed calemod individuals too add a social dimension and give public expression to their perumal vision. Ramkinkar used this opportunity to make monumental public sculpture, undertaken ominely at his own initiative. Beginning in carly thirties he began to fill the campus with sculptates, one aftre the other, which were innovative in tabject mer and personal in style. His fine magnum opus in this gene was the Santal Family done in 1938 In this larger than life sculpture he prescued the tribal peasants of the region, ghing the figures an iconic presence and dignified grace that was so far limited to the images of pads and the rulers. In untry where all public as-work was undertaken only at the behest of pastument conuiaoning and executed In consonance with the taste of the conservative ruling dites this was a cadical departure. The use of cement and laterite mortar to model the figures, and the use of a penonal ayle in which modern western and Indian pre-classical sculptural values were bought together was equally radical. With this seminal work Ramkinkar established himself as the first andoubted modern Indian sculptor.

The late thirties and early forties saw his emergence as a modernist thematically well grounded in the local-present, in the best Saminiketan tradision, but also open to a full range of modernis linguistic innovations in art. Already an admirer of the working class he was touched by the adverse impact natural calamities and political developments all through the forties had on their lives. And this led him to evolve as a committed artin with lefthe leanings The spectre of human suffering he saw around him led him to transform immediate facts into allegorical, symbolic and occasionally even didactic images. This gave a new thematic focus to his works, as well as an element of drama and expressive-immediacy to his execution. Coming in a period that saw the emergence of Progressive Movements and anti-Fascist expressions on the Indian cultural scene he came to be seen as a radical with a bohemian slant. But, despite his marked disregard for conventional ways and occasional expressions of vexation, he remained an impressible humanist who kept alive a sense of joy and faith in man deep within him.

Ramkinkar was singularly reticent and otherworldly as he was single-minded in his commitment to art and humanity. But this did not stop his work from being noticed and appreciated by other sensitive artists and connaisseurs, even if it were to remain a small group. Although his work was passed over for quite a while, gradually it began to get both national and international attention. He was invited to participate in the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles in 1950 and in the Salon de Mai in 1951. And in the seventies national honours began to come his way one after the other. In 1970 the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bushan, in 1976 he was made a fellow of the Lalit Kala Akademi, in 1976 he was conferred the honorary doctoral degree of Desikottama by Visva Bharati, and in 1979 an honorary D.Litt by the Rabindra Bharati University.

Ramkinkar died, after a period of illness, in Kolkata on the 2nd of August 1980.

About the Author R Siva Kumar is professor in History of Art at Kala Bhavana, Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan. Born in 1956 he was educated and Santinketan, and has been on the faculty at Kala Bhavana since 1981.

He has written extensively on modern Indian art and is noted for his significant contribution to the study of the art and artists of Santiniketan. Besides numerous papers in various journals, Siva Kumar has authored the following books: The Santiniketan Murals, 1995; Santiniketan: The Making of a Contextual Modernism, 1997; KG. Subramanyan: A Retrospective, 2003; A. Ramachandran: A Retrospective, 2004; K.S. Radhakrishnan, 2004; and My Pictures: A Collection of Paintings by Rabindranath Tagore, 2005; Benodebehari Mukherjee: A Centenary, 2006; Khoai, 2006; K.G. Subramanyan: The Painted Platters, 2007; The Paintings of Abanindranath Tagore, 2008; Sensibility Objectified: The Sculptures of Sarbari Roy Chudhury, 2009; K. G. Subramanyan: Drawings, 2010; Rabindra Chitravali. 4 Vols., 2011; The Last Harvest, 2011.

The exhibitions he has curated/co-curated include: Tryst with Destiny at the Singapore Art Museum, 1997; Santiniketan: The Making of A contextual Modernism, 1997; K.G. Subramanyan: A Retrospective, 2003; Benodebehari: A Centenary Retrospective, (along with Prof. Gulam Mohammed Sheikh) 2006, all at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi and The Last Harvest: Paintings of Rabindranath Tagore which is travelling to 8 leading museums in Berlin, New York, Seoul, Amsterdam, Paris Rome, Chicago and London (between Sept. 2011and May 2012).

KS Radhakrishnan is a sculptor. Born in 1956 in Kottayam (Kerala), he was educated in Santiniketan (West Bengal). He has had more than fifteen solo shows including at Centre des Bonds de Marne, LePerreux-Bry sur-Marne (France), Lalit Kala Akademi (New Delhi) and at Birla Academy of Art and Culture (Kolkata) amongst others. Among the numerous group shows at which his works have been exhibited are the National Exhibition at New Delhi (1980); Triennalle India (1990); Salon International de la Sculpture Contemporaine at Nouveay Forum des Halles, Paris (1995); Hippodrome d'e longchamp, Paris (1996); Espace Michel Simon-Noisy le grand, France (1996). Radhakrishnan has installed open air sculptures across the country and abroad including at the TMI foundation, Cotignac, France. He lives in Delhi with his wife and son.

Preface Ramkinkar Baij (1906-1980) was one of the most outstanding artists of modern India, self taught, his monumental sculptures have established landmarks in public art. Perceived as a bohemian, he has been the subject of much mythification. His powerful experimentations, ranging from the representational to the abstract, inspired generations of younger artists. One of the earliest modernists in Indian art: he assimilated the idiom of the European modern visual language and rooted it in his own Indian ethos. Both in his paintings and sculptures, he pushed the limits of experimentation and ventured into the use of new materials. For instance, his use of unconventional material, for the time, such as cement concrete for his monumental public sculptures set a new precedence for art practices. He imparted a new spirit to the surface quality of his sculptures just as he introduced new measures to the forms on his canvas that were modeled and rendered and added a new dimension.

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