Osian's Auction Catalogue Select Masterpieces of Indian Modern and Contemporary Art | June 2009

103 47 Ramkumar (b.1924) Varanasi series Gouache and watercolour on paper, 1981 Signed in Devanagari and dated in English ‘Ramkumar 81’ on verso 22.9 x 35.6 in (58.1 x 90.4 cm) INR 5,600,000 – 7,000,000 USD 116,670 – 145,830 After an interlude of abstraction, Ramkumar again returns to Benaras / Varanasi, the holy city of purgation with a different approach this time, annotating its eternal structures – the shrines, the ghats, and its ablutionary waters. “Ram Kumar, working on the theme of the cityscapes, naturally found the method which recalls a mason and a decorator entirely suitable for his purpose. Hence his extreme faithfulness to it. There are both the architect and the mosaic muralist in him, and his craftsmanship, sober at one level and precious at another, is altogether consistent.” – Geeta Kapur, rpt. in Contemporary Indian Artists , Vikash Publishing, 1978, p80.