Untitled

Ramkinkar Baij was among the earliest modernists to take advantage of the swift strokes afforded by expressionism, using it with great felicity to convey movement. His study of the Santhal tribals who lived around Santiniketan provided him the fodder for his sculpture as well as painting. In this evocative work, a lone farmer can be seen working in his field against a vast landscape made imposing through trees and clouds on the horizon.   

This Untitled work draws heavily from another oil on canvas that A. A. Raiba had done in 1963. The artist, who refused to be a part of any movement or submit to any one specific style, liked the denseness of charcoal. Always willing to come out of his comfort zone to experiment with some new subject or style, of which the current work is an example, Raiba created surrealist, erotic and fantastical imagery with writing that probably signified loss and, quite possibly, longing.