An Indian Sculptor With Monumental Ambition

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Gardiner Harris

Ram V. Sutar at his studio. Credit Kuni Takahashi for The New York Times

INDIA---He may be history’s most prolific monumental sculptor, and now he hopes to win what may be one of history’s largest artistic commissions. Ram V. Sutar, 89, has already created more than 200 distinct statues, many of them massive. Now, he is a leading contender for the commission to produce the world’s largest statue: a 597-foot-tall rendering — which would be nearly twice as high as the Statue of Liberty — of Sardar Patel, an independence leader who played a crucial role in uniting India’s fractious states. Called the Statue of Unity, the work is to be placed in the western state of Gujarat, where India’s new prime minister, Narendra Modi, was born, grew up and became a powerful politician. Mr. Modi has long pushed for the project, and his party’s landslide electoral victory in May vastly improved prospects for its completion. [link]