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Lot 49

 

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Born in Bankura, West Bengal, in 1887, Jamini Roy was a pioneer of Indian modernism, embodying, as Sona Datta describes, “not just the advent of modern Indian art but the modern Indian artist.” (Sona Datta, Urban Patua: The Art of Jamini Roy, Mumbai: Marg Publications, 2010, p. 91). Before arriving at the distinctive, flat, linear style inspired by indigenous folk traditions for which he is celebrated, Roy trained in Western academic... Born in Bankura, West Bengal, in 1887, Jamini Roy was a pioneer of Indian modernism, embodying, as Sona Datta describes, “not just the advent of modern Indian art but the modern Indian artist.” (Sona Datta, Urban Patua: The Art of Jamini Roy, Mumbai: Marg Publications, 2010, p. 91). Before arriving at the distinctive, flat, linear style inspired by indigenous folk traditions for which he is celebrated, Roy trained in Western academic realism at the Government School of Art and Craft, Calcutta, in 1903-04. Early in his career, he gained recognition as a portrait painter, with his first major commission being a portrait of Debendranath Tagore, father of Rabindranath Tagore.

Roy remained engaged with developments in Western art, closely studying the work of masters such as Rembrandt and Van Gogh. He occasionally reproduced their works in his own style as a way of exploring their approaches to composition and colour. In lot 47, Roy draws on Post-Impressionist methods, using distinct, deliberate brushstrokes to build up a vivid and expressive portrait of Rabindranath Tagore. As Manasij Majumder observes, works like this “display his power to handle a given style with a delightful originality of his own.” (Manasij Majumder, “Jamini Roy - Modernism’s Nationalist Face”, Dr J Kedareshwari, Suneet Chopra, Manasij Majumder et al, Jamini Roy National Art Treasure, Kolkata: Purba Publications, 2015, p. 46). Roy first met Tagore around 1908 while working as an assistant at Chintamoni Ghose’s Indian Press in Allahabad. Over time, their relationship grew into a friendship, with Tagore seeking Roy’s candid feedback on his latest paintings.

The surge of nationalism that swept through India in the early 20th century prompted Roy to reassess his artistic practice. Disillusioned by the constraints of his Eurocentric academic training and the prevailing Revivalist movement in Bengal, Roy began, by the mid-1920s, to move beyond both, seeking to define a distinctly “modern” Indian art rooted in indigenous traditions. Turning to the rich folk art of Bengal, he immersed himself in local visual languages, drawing inspiration from the fluid, calligraphic brushwork of Kalighat pats and the flattened, narrative style of pattachitra painting.

This exploration led Roy to develop a signature style characterised by flat planes of colour, bold rhythmic lines, frontal compositions, and decorative detailing. Works such as lots 49 and 51 exemplify this aesthetic as well as his preferred themes which often centred on archetypal figures like the mother and child, Santhal women, and characters from Hindu mythology. Lot 50, for example, depicts the Hindu deities Shiva and Ganesha, rendered in Roy’s hallmark style. As Majumder notes, “In each of them the motifs are evoked on a flat pictorial space structured… with the splendid pictorial finality of fluent, curved and bold lines [...] Their expressiveness resides… in their rigorous simplicity, scrupulous elimination of naturalism and simple myth-like evocativeness.” (Majumder, p. 55)

As Roy developed a more indigenous visual language, he often paired his simplified, iconic forms with intricate decorative details, as seen in lot 48. Majumder observes, “These details- decorative borders enclosing the image; curved neat and parallel folding strokes on dancers’ skirts; floral dots and dabs to spangle women’s saris etc.-do not merely adorn the picture space in and around the motifs. They come from folk art and folk life and are evocative of a simple sense of the sacred and spiritual.” These embellishments were inspired by the painted walls of Santal villages near Roy’s ancestral home, as well as the ritual floor decorations created by women during puja ceremonies in rural Bengal, grounding his work in the everyday artistry of local traditions.

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