Ram Kinker Baij

 

Early life

Baij was born in an economically modest family in the Bankura district of the modern state of West Bengal in India. In that sense, he was a Bengali, not an Adivasi, as many people usually think. The surname Baij derived from Boidda and Boijo consequently. His family surname was Poramanik and was abandoned by him in the early 1925. However, many of his artistic creations have been inspired by the lifestyles of rural dalit or Adivasi (Santhal) communities living in and around his place of work Santiniketan.
While in his mid-teens Ramkinkar used to paint portraits of Indian freedom fighters involved in the Non-Cooperation Movement against the British rulers of India. At age of 16 he got noticed by the renowned journalist Ramananda Chatterjee. Four years later Ramkinkar joined Rabindranath Tagore's university at Santiniketan as a student of fine arts.^[1] After obtaining a diploma from the university he went on to head the sculpture department. Eminent painters like Beohar Rammanohar Sinha [1] and Jahar Dasgupta, both students of Shantiniketan were his disciple.

Style

Ramkinkar Baij was no introvert or recluse, he responded to the natural zest for life, and took a great interest in human figures, body language, and in the general human drama. Modern Western art and pre and post-classical Indian art were his main point of reference. He used local material advantageously, and worked combining the skills of a modeller and a carver. His paintings too take on expressionist dimensions like his sculptures, which are filled with force and vitality. While Baij was making a portrait of Tagore, during one sitting, the old poet advised him to approach the subject as a tiger and through the observation suck into its blood. After this, in Baij’s own words, he “did not look back”.

Some of his sculptures are preserved and displayed at locations including Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan, Late Rani Chanda Collection & Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta, H.K. Kejriwal Collection & Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat, Bangalore, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, Reserve Bank of India, New Delhi, Jane and Kito de Boer, Dubai, and the Delhi Art Gallery in New Delhi.

Controversy

A bust of Rabindranath Tagore made by Baij was established in Budapest, Hungary, near Balaton lake. It was made up at the last age of Rabindranath. Baij regretted for doing it because there was a belief that completion of any sculpture or portrait of living person might cause a early death and Rabindranath died right after making the bust. In 1979 one of the ministers of West Bengal sought for its removal accusing that it misinterpreted Rabindranath. Many prominent persons including Maitreyi Devi (poetess and novelist) supported him. Later the effort was cancelled by then cultural minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

Legacy

A portrait bust in bronze by a student of Ramkinkar at Santiniketan, the sculptor K. S. Radhakrishnan, is found in the entrance of the Museum of Modern Art in Bhopal, India.
There is a book called "Dekhi Nai Fire" (meaning Haven't looked back.., Ananda Publication) based on Baij's life and work, written by another contemporary literary genius, Samaresh Basu after about ten years of extensive research. A famous Bengali magazine, "Desh" used to publish articles written by Basu. Basu also died before completing the series. This book is a collection of all those articles on Baij's life.
Ritwik Ghatak wisely made a documentary on Baij named 'Ramkinkar' (1975) where he featured him as a political icon. The secret behind this fearless observation of this “Padma Bhushan” winning artist is disclosed by himself in the documentary by Ghatak. A Calcutta publisher, Monfakira has an English book on ramkinkar, 'self-portrait', translated from Bengali by Sudipto Chakraborty of Ranchi.^[2] This book is very useful for people who read English.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Ramkinkar was a bachelor throughout his life; he lived with Radharani Dashi. He didn't want to have any bindings in his life and never married despite insistence by his parents. While was in Shantineketon he used to have negative remark by his known faces for this kind of lifestyle. He had a melodious voice and good sense of music. Though he liked to sing Tagore song and Lalongiti he also listened to the western classics provided by Satyajit Ray (film maker). He liked animals as much as he liked children. He made Radharani and his nephew Dibakar Baij as his legal heirs. He came to Shantiniketon at his 19 years and stayed there till his death.

Death

On 23 March 1980, Baij was admitted to P G Hospital. He was suffering from disease of the prostate gland and lost all sense of appetite. Doctors performed a shunt operation. Expenses of his treatment were borne by the West Bengal government and the principal of Visva Bharati. He died on 2 August. His body was cremated by his nephew at Shantiniketan. He made his last sculpture Durgamurti during his stay at hospital.