작품 상세

Ramkinkar Baij, Indian 1906-1980- Water Carrier; Clay sculpture, 25cm high. Provenance: The Private Collection of Niladri and Ranu Chaki Note: Ramkinkar Baij is considered to be the “Father of Modern Indian sculpture”. His tryst with art began at a young age, sketching and making sculptures out of the red soil that was so abundant in Bankura. His talent caught the eye of eminent journalist and editor of ‘Prabasi’ and ‘Modern Review’, Ramananda Chattopadhyay who referred Baij to Kala Bhavan at Shantiniketan.  Rabindranath Tagore and Nadalal Bose were quick to recognize Baij's talent and his natural affinity towards sculpting. Baij’s early years at Shantiniketan were experimentalist. He tried various mediums: watercolour and oil paints and these too in various styles. Like other students at Shantiniketan he too tried the wash and gouache technique of the East, painting in the soft and slender style of the Bengal school. It was at Shantiniketan that he was first exposed to the contemporary European art world. But despite this exposure to the west, Shantiniketan never imposed colonial ideals of art on its students, rather it stressed on remaining rooted to one’s culture. It was this liberal education and the guidance of masters like Tagore and Bose that inspired Ramkinkar to eventually find his own seminal style.