(i) 1975,(ii) 1970s

Somnath Hore (1921 - 2006)

Ram Kumar (1924 - 2018)

The brilliant abstractionist Ram Kumar was born in 1924 in Simla. Initially, he studied economics at St. Stephen’s College, New Delhi. He had developed his interest in art right in his college days and started studying at Sarada Ukil School of Art, New Delhi. Soon he went to Paris in 1946 to learn art under Andre Lhote and Fernard Leger. He began painting figures initially. He returned to New Delhi and became part of Delhi Silpi Chakra group. His short association with Progressive Group artists gave shape to his artistic practices. His abstract landscapes are minus the trappings of naturalism.His colours are often dark, and two toned to express the devoid of lustre and sometimes positivity. The artist passed away in April 2018.

Somnath Hore was a prominent artist and a political activist of post-independent India. Hore was born in 1921, Chittagong and had closely witnessed the chain of devastation left by the Japanese bombing raid on Chittagong followed by the Bengal famine of the 40’s. In 1958, Somnath Hore moved to Delhi to join the Delhi Polytechnic. In Delhi, he experimented and analyzed different methods of printmaking like wood engraving, etching, lithograph and drypoint to negotiate with his political image-making. When Somnath was at the peak of his artistic progress, he left Delhi and moved back to Kolkata. In his autobiographical essay called ‘My Concept of Art’, he admitted to the ‘gap between socialist philosophy and socialist parties’. Hore’s works gradually became more cerebral and his subjects more universally emotive. Hore’s works are recognized across the globe. His works were exhibited at the Warsaw Biennale of Graphic Arts, Sao Paolo Biennale, Venice Biennale and Lugano International Graphics Biennale. In 1984, he was conferred with the title Professor Emeritus at the Viswa Bharati University and in the same year, he was honored with the Aban-Gagan award. He received the Lalit Kala Ratna Puraskar. Somnath Hore passed away in 2006.