Ram Kumar’s earthy palette of his early years as a painter captures a melancholic mood.  On his return from his travels across Europe in the 1950s, The City was painted in a modernist cubist abstraction that remained his characteristic edge. The man stands as a sole witness to his alienation and to the morbid human condition. The solitary street lamps, lighted nooks and obscure corners have the human figure standing still, his appearance signifying his anonymous existence against the backdrop of a pervading city.