Ram V. Sutar

Ram V. Sutar
Born (1925-02-19)19 February 1925
Gondur village, Dhulia, Maharashtra India

Ram Vanji Sutar (born 1925) is an Indian sculptor. He has created more than fifty monumental sculptures in the last forty years of his career. He is the recipient of Padma Bhushan in 2016 and Padma Shri in 1999 for his contribution in the field of arts.

Personal life

Sutar was born into a poor family, on 19 February 1925, in the village of Gondur, in Dhulia district of Maharashtra. In 1952 he got married to Pramila and like him their only son Anil Sutar (born in 1957) is also a sculptor.[1]

Career

Sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi by Ram V. Sutar in Hannover

His early mentor was Shriram Krishna Joshi, who later encouraged him to join the Sir J.J. School of Art in Bombay. By the end of his course there, in 1953 he topped the class and won the prestigious Mayo Gold medal for modelling . As a modeler for the Department of Archaeology, South Western Circle, Aurangabad, between 1954 and 1958 he was involved in restoring several ancient sculptures found in the caves of Ellora and Ajanta. In 1958-59, he was Technical Assistant ( Model ) in the Exhibition Division of Audiovisual Publicity, Ministry of I & B, New Delhi, for preparing various types of models on the Five Year Plans. He left his Government job in 1959 with the intention of becoming a professional sculptor.[2]

His first notable work was the 45 feet Chambal monument at the Gandhi Sagar Dam, in Madhya Pradesh, India.[3] This 45 feet high gigantic masterpiece carved out of a single block depicts mother Chambal with her two children- Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan symbolizing the brotherhood of the two states. Jawaharlal Nehru the Prime Minister was so impressed with this magnificent work that he asked Ram to do a similar 50 feet high monument in bronze for the Bhakra Dam to commemorate the workers who laid down their lives in during the making of this stupendous engineering marvel of modern India. But this work modelled on the theme of Triumph of Labour was left incomplete due to paucity of funds. The most well known among his works is the bust of Mahatma Gandhi that he sculpted, which is instantly recognizable worldwide, and copies of it were presented by the Government of India to other countries like France, Italy, Argentina, Barbados, Russia, England, Italy, and Argentina where they have been put on display on the occasion of the Gandhian Centenary Celebrations. However the largest copy of this bust was made for the International Trade Fair of Asia in '72 & is permanently on display at Pragati Maidan, Mathura Road, New Delhi. Mahatma Gandhi has always been his most frequent muse. He has also sculpted Mahatma Gandhi statues in meditation pose, 17 feet high, which are installed at Gandhinagar, Gujarat & at Parliament House, New Delhi. A 13 feet high monumental statue of Mahatma Gandhi accompanied by Harijan Children was sculpted for Sandur in Bangalore, Gandhi Smriti in Delhi & Delhi Public School in Noida. Another well known sculpture of his is the 21 feet high Equestrian statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh which he made for Amritsar. Other notable sculptures are the 10 feet high bronze statue of Govind Ballabh Pant overlooking Rafi Marg in New Delhi, statue of Bihar Vibhuti Anugrah Narain Sinha and Karpuri Thakur in Bihar Legislative Assembly campus, statue of Shri Krishna Sinha in Bihar secretariat and the depiction of Goddess Ganga and Yamuna at the Rose Garden, in Ludhiana, in Punjab.[4] Ram V Sutar has designed the Statue of Unity, the tallest statue of the world currently under construction.[3]

He has created more than fifty monumental sculptures in the last forty years of his career. Anil Sutar, his architect-sculptor son, conceived and landscaped a sprawling sculpture garden, called Anand Van, beside the Surajkund-Batkal lake road, where gigantic white fibreglass replicas of Mr. Ram Sutar's creations have been put up on display. He and his son presently have a company studio of their own in Noida.[5]

Awards

In 1999, he received the Padma Shri award and later in 2016 he received Padma Bhushan award from the Government of India.[6]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ram V. Sutar.

References

  1. ↑ Ram Vanji Sutar's Biography
  2. ↑ Ram Vanji Sutar's Profile
  3. 1 2 "'Statue of Unity' To Be Completed In 2 Years: Renowned Sculptor Ram Sutar". NDTV.com. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  4. ↑ List of Sutar's sculptures
  5. ↑ Sutar's studio
  6. ↑ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
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