This is an archive article published on May 30, 2020

Five landmark works by India’s foremost sculptor Ramkinkar Baij

To mark the artist’s 115th birth anniversary this week, we look at some of his significant works, such as Yaksha-Yakshi, Binodini, Sujata, Santhal Family and Girl with a Dog

5 min readNew DelhiUpdated: May 30, 2020 04:02 PM IST

Some of the famous artworks by Ramkinkar Baij. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

One of India’s foremost modernist sculptors, Ramkinkar Baij is remembered as the ‘eccentric genius’ from Bankura who was ahead of his times. The pioneering artist experimented both with material and subjects to create works in multiple mediums and give India some of its most monumental sculptures that have become landmarks in public art. To mark his 115th birth anniversary this week, we look at five of his significant works.

Yaksha-Yakshi

Reserve Bank of India’s entrance has Ramkinkar Baij’s artworks. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Exemplifying Baij’s artistic genius, the statues in shivalik sandstone guarding the doors of the Reserve Bank of India building in Delhi took years longer and costed significantly more than originally estimated. Commissioned by the Government of India, Baij had taken inspiration from the Yaksha-Yakshi statues that he had seen in Mathura, Sanchi and the Patna Museum to sculpt the mythical benevolent figures. At first, it took him months to select a stone. He finally found it in Kangra valley’s Baijnath. Cut from the mountains, humongous pieces were transported to Delhi in special wagons and with assistance from carvers from Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur district, Baij finally gave form to his sketches in stone. While the entire process took more than a decade, as the RBI website notes, even when the statues were finally installed in 1967, it “seemed to offend the prudish sensibilities of parts of the populace; the specific cause of provocation was the statue of the Yakshini, depicted in her natural beauty”. Though in some of the interviews, Baij shared how the work gave him ‘tremendous joy’, his associates recall how working on a budgeted sanctioned commission also left some bitter experiences for the artist who followed his heart. Years later, the Yaksha with a money bag and Yakshi with agricultural produce in her hands are recognised as iconic sculptures in Indian art history.

Binodini

In the above 1948/49 oil, we see Binodini looking straight at the onlooker. (Photo: NGMA)

Belonging to the aristocratic family of Manipur, Binodini was Baij’s student who also became his muse. A prominent literary figure, she appeared in several of his works in multiple mediums, including oil, watercolour and bronze. An etching has the two walking together in a woody path — the master wearing a straw hat and his muse looking admirably. In the above 1948/49 oil, we see Binodini looking straight at the onlooker. Dressed in a saree, the slim figure is painted with numerous layers on a gunny cloth, a material that proved to be more economical than a canvas.

Girl with a Dog

Girl with a Dog reportedly had as its protagonist an Indonesian girl who was visiting Santiniketan with her father in the late 30s. (Photo: NGMA)

Believed to be one of Baij’s earliest works in oil — a medium where he replicated the spontaneity and texture of his sculptures — Girl with a Dog reportedly had as its protagonist an Indonesian girl who was visiting Santiniketan with her father in the late 30s. This was few years after Baij had returned to Santiniketan, after teaching in schools in Asansol and Delhi.

Sujata

Sujata artwork is displayed at Santiniketan. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Arguably one of India’s first natural or environmental sculptures, 11-feet tall Sujata stands in the greens of Santiniketan, surrounded by eucalyptus trees. One of Baij’s earliest sculptures in cement, she was moulded by him in 1935. To support the elongated figure, Baij reportedly used bamboo poles and cane. Carrying a vessel on her head, her hands are gracefully positioned, exuding calm and poise. It is after seeing this work that Rabindranath Tagore reportedly permitted him to make as many sculptures as he wished across the campus. A few years later, in 1940, Baij made Lamp Stand, arguably the earliest abstract sculpture by an Indian artist.

Santhal Family

Santhal Family is another famous artwork of Ramkinkar Baij. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Several of Baij’s students often narrate how when he’d present William Shakespeare’s plays in the Kala Bhavan campus, and the audience often comprised local Santhal villagers who would be enthralled by the sheer energy of the productions. Hailing from the red-soiled land of West Bengal, Baij, who grew up observing the local clay idol makers of Bankura, shared a deep relationship with the communities around him, including the Santhals who lived near Santiniketan. Considered to be probably India’s first public modernist sculpture, Santhal Family, in cement and laterite gravel, was also Baij’s tribute to their resolve to fight against odds. Done in 1938, it represented the dynamism of traditional Bengal at the time of industrialisation. The rhythmic movement is unmissable, as the protagonists — a couple with their children and a dog — march ahead with a weighing scale. Years later, in 1956, he executed Mill Call, another significant work that celebrated the working class and the Santhals, depicting women rushing at the sound of the siren from a mill.

Vandana Kalra

Vandana Kalra is an art critic and Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. She has spent more than two decades chronicling arts, culture and everyday life, with modern and contemporary art at the heart of her practice. With a sustained engagement in the arts and a deep understanding of India’s cultural ecosystem, she is regarded as a distinctive and authoritative voice in contemporary art journalism in India. Vandana Kalra's career has unfolded in step with the shifting contours of India’s cultural landscape, from the rise of the Indian art market to the growing prominence of global biennales and fairs. Closely tracking its ebbs and surges, she reports from studios, galleries, museums and exhibition spaces and has covered major Indian and international art fairs, museum exhibitions and biennales, including the Venice Biennale, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Documenta, Islamic Arts Biennale. She has also been invited to cover landmark moments in modern Indian art, including SH Raza’s exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the opening of the MF Husain Museum in Doha, reflecting her long engagement with the legacies of India’s modern masters. Alongside her writing, she applies a keen editorial sensibility, shaping and editing art and cultural coverage into informed, cohesive narratives. Through incisive features, interviews and critical reviews, she brings clarity to complex artistic conversations, foregrounding questions of process, patronage, craft, identity and cultural memory. The Global Art Circuit: She provides extensive coverage of major events like the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Serendipity Arts Festival, and high-profile international auctions. Artist Spotlights: She writes in-depth features on modern masters (like M.F. Husain) and contemporary performance artists (like Marina Abramović). Art and Labor: A recurring theme in her writing is how art reflects the lives of the marginalized, including migrants, farmers, and labourers. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent portfolio is dominated by the coverage of the 2025 art season in India: 1. Kochi-Muziris Biennale & Serendipity Arts Festival "At Serendipity Arts Festival, a 'Shark Tank' of sorts for art and crafts startups" (Dec 20, 2025): On how a new incubator is helping artisans pitch products to investors. "Artist Birender Yadav's work gives voice to the migrant self" (Dec 17, 2025): A profile of an artist whose decade-long practice focuses on brick kiln workers. "At Kochi-Muziris Biennale, a farmer’s son from Patiala uses his art to draw attention to Delhi’s polluted air" (Dec 16, 2025). "Kochi Biennale showstopper Marina Abramović, a pioneer in performance art" (Dec 7, 2025): An interview with the world-renowned artist on the power of reinvention. 2. M.F. Husain & Modernism "Inside the new MF Husain Museum in Qatar" (Nov 29, 2025): A three-part series on the opening of Lawh Wa Qalam in Doha, exploring how a 2008 sketch became the architectural core of the museum. "Doha opens Lawh Wa Qalam: Celebrating the modernist's global legacy" (Nov 29, 2025). 3. Art Market & Records "Frida Kahlo sets record for the most expensive work by a female artist" (Nov 21, 2025): On Kahlo's canvas The Dream (The Bed) selling for $54.7 million. "All you need to know about Klimt’s canvas that is now the most expensive modern artwork" (Nov 19, 2025). "What’s special about a $12.1 million gold toilet?" (Nov 19, 2025): A quirky look at a flushable 18-karat gold artwork. 4. Art Education & History "Art as play: How process-driven activities are changing the way children learn art in India" (Nov 23, 2025). "A glimpse of Goa's layered history at Serendipity Arts Festival" (Dec 9, 2025): Exploring historical landmarks as venues for contemporary art. Signature Beats Vandana is known for her investigative approach to the art economy, having recently written about "Who funds the Kochi-Muziris Biennale?" (Dec 11, 2025), detailing the role of "Platinum Benefactors." She also explores the spiritual and geometric aspects of art, as seen in her retrospective on artist Akkitham Narayanan and the history of the Cholamandal Artists' Village (Nov 22, 2025). ... Read More

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