Ramkinkar Baij
[2] Baij was born in an economically modest family in the Bankura district of the modern state of West Bengal in India.
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.
[4] Professor R. Siva Kumar, an authority of the Santiniketan School of Art[5][6] wrote, "Ramkinkar Baij was born on 25 May 1906 in Bankura in West Bengal, into a family of little economic and social standing, and grew, by the sheer dint of talent and determination, into one of the most distinguished early modernists in Indian art.
As a young boy, he grew up watching local craftsmen and image-makers at work; and making small clay figures and paintings with whatever came his way.
Soon after completing his studies at Kala Bhavana he became a member of its faculty, and along with Nandalal and Benode Behari Mukherjee played a decisive role in making Santiniketan the most important centre for modern art in pre-Independence India.
Beginning in early thirties he began to fill the campus with sculptures, one after the other, which were innovative in subject matter and personal in style.
In this larger than life sculpture he represented the tribal peasants of the region, giving the figures iconic presence and dignified grace that was so far limited to the images of Gods and Rulers.
In a country where all public art-work was undertaken only at the behest of Government commissioning and executed in consonance with the taste of conservative ruling elites, this was a radical departure.
The use of cement and laterite mortar to model the figures, and the use of a personal style in which modern western and Indian pre-classical sculptural values were brought together was equally radical.
In 1970 the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan,[8] in 1976 he was made a fellow of the Lalit Kala Akademi, in 1976 he was conferred the Desikottama by Visva Bharati, and in 1979 an honorary D.Litt.
In the early independent India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister, suggested that public buildings, many of which were large imposing structures, could be utilized to ‘encourage Indian artists to function in 'some way’ and sculptors, painters, designers, etc.
Quite to my liking.’ -Baij[10][11]Somendranath Bandyopadhyay's book 'My days with Ramkinkar Baij' (translated into English by Bhaswati Ghosh) mentions the above and the following quotes:‘You might have noticed that I’ve placed a discus in my sculpture’s hand.
[14] A differing view holds that many prominent persons including Maitreyi Devi (poet and novelist) supported Chakraborty, and that later the effort to replace the bust was cancelled by then cultural minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
The once controversial bust has been replicated by the Indian government and given by it to a number of foreign countries including Colombia,[15] Finland[16] and Israel.
[21] Samaresh Basu's unfinished novel Dekhi Nai Phire (I did not look back), cut short by the author's death, is also a classic piece based on Ramkinkar's life.
Asur (2020), a Bengali movie starring Jeet, Abir Chatterjee and Nusrat Jahan directed by Pavel, is a small tribute to him.
