RAM KUMAR (INDIA, 1924–2018) – UNTITLED (ARCHITECTURAL COMPOSITION), PEN AND INK ON PAPER

THIS EXPRESSIVE LINE DRAWING BY RAMKUMAR PRESENTS A RHYTHMIC ARCHITECTURAL COMPOSITION, RENDERED WITH SPONTANEOUS, SEARCHING STROKES. THE INTERPLAY OF ARCHES, STEPS, AND STRUCTURAL PLANES SUGGESTS AN ABSTRACTED URBAN OR SACRED SPACE, EVOKING MEMORY AND INNER LANDSCAPE RATHER THAN A LITERAL PLACE.

EXECUTED WITH ECONOMY AND CONFIDENCE, THE WORK EXEMPLIFIES RAMKUMAR’S DISTINCTIVE DRAFTSMANSHIP, WHERE STRUCTURE AND EMOTION COEXIST THROUGH LINE AND GESTURE. THE AGED PAPER AND FLUID INK MARKS ADD A SENSE OF TIME AND INTIMACY, UNDERSCORING THE ARTIST’S MEDITATIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH FORM AND SPACE. A STRIKING EXAMPLE OF RAMKUMAR’S WORKS ON PAPER, REFLECTING HIS TRANSITION FROM FIGURATION TOWARDS POETIC ABSTRACTION.