Ramkinkar Baij
However it was enlightening to see his growth as a brilliant artist and the extent to which his personal philosophies, politics and ideas were so deeply and honestly entrenched in his work and life. Baij clearly 'lived' his ideals, spending a lot of time with the Santhals who were a prominent topic within his work.
I recently visited NGMA, where they had an exhaustive collection of this artist's work. At first I was skeptical about what was clearly a collection of work from a long ago era of Indian art. Personally, I favor viewing more radical or contemporary works. However it was enlightening to see his growth as a brilliant artist and the extent to which his personal philosophies, politics and ideas were so deeply and honestly entrenched in his work and life. Baij clearly 'lived' his ideals, spending a lot of time with the Santhals who were a prominent topic within his work. His abstract sculptures were a pleasure and my favorites amongst his life's work. His sculptures of animals were brilliant and at times even humorous.
Dog by Ramkinkar Baij, Terracotta, 1950's. 38.5 by 29.5 by 22cm. Image Source: Delhi Art Gallery.
The Poet by Ramkinkar Baij. 1938. Image Source.
Other works worth noting are The Harvest 1957 (oil on canvas), Atomika 1969 (oil on canvas), and a sculpture portrait of Pramod Ganguly (Plaster of Paris).
Modern Drawings
Drawings of life in the city, and abstract dream cities. From the exhibition Picasso to Julie Mehretu, modern drawings from the British Museum collection [7th Oct 2010 to 25th April 2011].
People in a Cafe, 1917 by George Grosz. [Image Source]
Dreamland Tower, Coney Island 1912 by David Milne (1882-1953). [Image Source]
Untitled (Pacific No. 32, weekend), 1998 by Franz Ackermann. [Image Source]
Untitled (City Abstraction) 1912 by Abraham Walkowitz. [Image Source]
Vertical Lines 1953 by Kazuro Nakamura. [Image Source]
Untitled by Lawrence Weiner (born 1942) [Image Source]
Grotesque Landscape in Yellow 1949 by Jean Dubaffet (1401-85) Pen and ink on yellow watercolour. [Image Source]
Update 4th May: I've only included work that is relevant to my project on representing the atmosphere of the city. In my journey towards representing the violence between the fantasy and the real within Mumbai, I've noticed a trend towards abstraction especially with the increasing use of shadows and reflections within the installation. These drawings capture this urban feeling in their own individual expressionist ways.