Important Notice

"A picture is what it is: Man creates it. And whatever man creates reflects his character, daily life, his innermost thoughts, indeed everything." - JAMINI ROY

The period during which Jamini Roy was active as an artist was one of great change. The early years of the 20th century played host to numerous socio-political and historical upheavals that had a deep impact on the art that was created during the time. Roy was uniquely... "A picture is what it is: Man creates it. And whatever man creates reflects his character, daily life, his innermost thoughts, indeed everything." - JAMINI ROY

The period during which Jamini Roy was active as an artist was one of great change. The early years of the 20th century played host to numerous socio-political and historical upheavals that had a deep impact on the art that was created during the time. Roy was uniquely positioned to fit into this transitionary period thanks to his rural roots and urban upbringing, both of which played a role in shaping his style and aesthetic vision. "But more than that what sparked off his vision and imagination most during the bloom years of his creativity was the spirit of nationalism that burnt bright in the twenties and thirties but steadily declined after Independence in the last two decades of his life." (Manasij Majumder, "Jamini Roy - Modernism's Nationalist Face," Jamini Roy: National Art Treasure, Kolkata: Purba, 2015, p. 46)

Roy was born in 1887 in a small village in Beliatore in the Bankura district of West Bengal. The geological location of his village played an important role in his art, as is evident through his use of varying shades of reddish brown - a colour that is reminiscent of the reddish mineral-rich soil found in the region. The impact of his home village in Roy's art went deeper, as is observed through "the terracotta temples of this region with their arches, rectangular panels, friezes, motifs [that] also find reflection in Jamini's works. In addition, the patuas, potters, wood carvers and toy makers, alpana (floor decoration) etc would definitely have ignited his imagination which urged him in adopting a decorative style, which is traditionally termed as 'folk' style." (Dr. J Kedareswari, "Jamini Ranjan Roy - A Tribute," Jamini Roy: National Art Treasure, p. 14)

He went on to join the Government School of Art in Kolkata in 1903 where he learnt the tenets of the British Academic style of painting. "A broad-minded father allowed him to go to Calcutta to learn the business of an artist, in the Government School, an institution which by its Victorian respectability and commercialism was eminently suited to produce the diplomaed 'art babu'. Here Jamini learnt and became extremely proficient in the academic techniques. Soon enough he was one of Calcutta's popular portrait painters, far above his contemporaries in skill, taste and painting sense." (Rudolf von Leyden, "Jamini Roy," The Art of Jamini Roy, Calcutta: Jamini Roy Birth Centenary Celebration Committee, 1987, p. 37)

Roy began his career by painting in the post-Impressionist genre of landscapes and portraits that was in keeping with his training. However, he soon became disillusioned with the British Academic style of painting and began searching for new sources of inspiration. This disillusionment is evident when Roy states, "They devoted themselves to precision and polish and thus eventually forgot the essential function of art... And what next? The artists find no answer to this question and see no path before them. It is like a game of chess in which you find yourself checkmated. The old faith in the Christ-myth waned away while the artists failed to pin their faith in a new myth. So they look desperate. In the contemporary art of Europe, you can see such signs of desperation. The artists could perhaps have avoided this only if they had opened the game with the correct moves." (Artist quoted in The Art of Jamini Roy, p. 16)

His search for a new artistic style brought him in contact with the nationalist art of the Abanindranath Tagore-led Bengal School. "When Roy first switched to painting in the native manner, he produced what looked very much like a mix of the romantic sentimentalism of the Bengal School and the powerful anatomical drawing of academic naturalism. This is evident in many of his gouaches of the twenties such as Krisna and his Mother and those of Santal Women." (Majumder, p. 49)

It was also during this time that Roy decided to leave his urban environment and seek inspiration from his rural roots. "He fled from Calcutta to a Bengal village. He lived among artisans who paint our remarkable expressionistic pats... He learnt from the secret of the fundamental rounded line, the expressive contour enclosing in it the human form in one vital sweep." (The Art of Jamini Roy, p. 17) Surrounded by folk and tribal art, Roy finally found his inspiration for "not only recreating a native tradition of painting, but also for revitalising Indian art with fresh expressiveness." (Majumder, p. 50)

Here, Roy began to paint varying scenes from the rural scape in front of him. Painted in the early years of the 1920s, these works are Roy's reflections on the innocence and romanticism of his rural environment. In his search for his unique artistic identity, he began to experiment with the 'flat technique' that was heavily used in Chinese landscapes and involved a discarding of all non-essential elements from the background. This technique would go on to make its appearance in many of his later works. Roy also worked on a suite of paintings depicting Santhal women during this period. These works are sensuously painted using firm, angular lines and show the women involved in their daily chores.

As Roy's artistic style developed further, he began to eschew "all representational details to move towards extreme simplification of the basic form, defined by smooth easy curved brush strokes most often in black or dark Indian red... the motifs are evoked on flat pictorial space structured and defined not with colours but with the splendid pictorial finality of fluent, curved and bold lines." (Majumder, p. 55)

The influence of folk art in his work became more prominent since it went beyond a simple borrowing of stylistic or structural elements, and instead involved an adaptation and reformation of the themes, usually through several versions of the same work, created over a long period of time. Each version, however, had certain elements that were different, thereby making them unique in their own right. Lot 2 is one such example. Other versions of the painting that have appeared in auction, are displayed in galleries or museums, or form a part of private collections include subtle differences in the decorative motifs, viz., alpona, a popular form of floor decoration in Bengali households.

Thus, Roy's search for artistic expression took him in the direction of traditional art forms such as Kalighat patuas, Bengali scrolls, crafts, wooden and clay toys, and terracotta objects from the Bankura region. He then integrated these traditions to create works of art that used simple forms, bold, flat colours, and subjects taken from local folk tales and mythology. Art historian Sona Datta highlights this move as a "very deep concern with regeneration and the recovery of 'roots'... The search for identity and rootedness became an object and 'Back to the village' became a popular slogan in the freedom struggle." (Sona Datta, Urban Patua: The Art of Jamini Roy, Mumbai: Marg Publications, 2010, pp. 33?35)

Roy experimented with these traditional forms and fluid calligraphic lines to create an artistic language that he could identify with. This was a period where he switched from oils to "traditional pigments from vegetable and mineral sources," choosing to restrict his palette to seven earthy, mineral colours, in search of "pure organic beauty [that] was driven by his distaste of rapid industrialisation followed by technology based culture." (Debashis Dhar, "Jamini Roy: A Martyr to his own Mastery," Jamini Roy: National Art Treasure, p. 79)

Roy also experimented with material, medium and imagery along with his experiments in visual language. It was during this period that he created a limited number of large format works that exude dramatic flavour. Lot 4 is one of them.

A rectangular composition, lot 4, a tempera on cloth, is divided into three vertical sections. The central panel is slightly wider than the others and depicts a statuesque lady holding her child in her arms. She is positioned against a reddish-brown coloured wall with a slanting roof over her head that is reminiscent of the typical style of Bishnupur temples. The lady is dressed in a long traditional fabric in a dark colour with a light coloured odhni across her chest. The lack of a blouse is a marker of the prevalent dressing style in many parts of rural Bengal at the time.

The child, who is believed to be Lord Krishna due to the unique blue colour used to depict him, is adorned with jewellery befitting his divine status. The devoted attendants on either side are seen paying obeisance to Krishna through the offerings held in their hands.

Lot 4 acts as a marker of Roy's formidable talent that grew more distinct over the course of his long artistic career. As the present lot indicates, he used his powerful flowing lines and bright colours to awaken a wondrous joy in the eye of the observer while simultaneously embodying "concepts of form and expression that could be understood beyond the borders of the folk art of Bengal. He speaks not only for the pata chitra to the world but also links its language to that of the global modernist tradition, making it another universal language of our times." (Suneet Chopra, "Jamini Roy: Grass Roots Modernism," Jamini Roy: National Art Treasure, p. 42)

Roy passed away on 24 April 1972 and left behind "a legacy of paintings with immense vitality, philosophical sensitivity and social relevance." (Dr. Kedareswari, p. 32) Roy's constant search for self-expression and identity ensured his art played a large role in defining the importance of folk art within the context of Indian Modernism. Limiting his return to his roots as a rejection of the modern, Western world, however, would be too simplistic an interpretation of his art form. Roy's formal training, personal technique, and style sets his art uniquely beyond the folk idiom. His works continue to be "prized possession[s] and a show of his standard works never fails to draw troops of art lovers, though taste and trend in art have been changing over the decades, even when he was alive."(Majumder, p. 46)

JAMINI ROY AND THE DHOOMIMAL CONNECTION

The Dhoomimal Art Gallery in New Delhi, established in 1936, has had a long-standing association with many of India's Modernists, including Jamini Roy. It was initially a stationery store owned by Ram Babu Jain, an art aficionado who supported many artists by providing them with art materials at a rate that was affordable for them. In return, many of these artists would repay Ram Babu's generosity with their own paintings. Within a few years, Ram Babu's art collection had grown exponentially, making him realise the need for a larger space to house all of it. This, then, led to the birth of the Dhoomimal Art Gallery.

The 85-plus years of Dhoomimal's history has seen it develop, nurture, and maintain associations with numerous artists such as F N Souza, Sailoz Mookherjea, Jagdish Swaminathan, Ram Kumar, as well as Roy. Roy and Mookherjea, in particular, were very close to Ram Babu and would spend long hours discussing the promotion of art and artists.

An indication of this close friendship is evident in this rare oil portrait of Ram Babu (pictured here) that was done by Roy, which continues to be one of the family's most valued possessions. This painting is a unique work done in a semi-expressionistic style using dark colours that was unlike Roy's popularly recognisable folk-art style.

Ram Babu, in addition to this oil portrait, also had an extensive art collection - one that included many works by Roy. He believed in building his art collection around works that he connected with on an emotional and/or personal level rather than their monetary value - a belief he later passed on to his sons, Ravi and Mahinder Jain, as well. According to Uma Jain, Ram Babu's daughter-in-law, "...he was a collector in the true sense. He wasn't thinking about a portfolio but bought what he liked. It was about taste and it was about building a collection out of his own passion and interest." (Uma Jain, "Foreword," Carved Contours - Jamini Roy: Uma, Ravi and Ram Babu Jain Estate, New Delhi: Dhoomimal Gallery, 2016, p. 2)

Ram Babu's art collection includes many works by Roy, including lots 3 and 4, making Jain feel as if she's someone "who is holding on to a legacy rather than one who owns these works." (Jain, p. 2)

Lot 4 was exhibited at Carved Contours - an exclusive exhibition of Roy's works from the Uma, Ravi and Ram Babu Jain estate - held in 2016 to celebrate the Dhoomimal Gallery's 80th year. The works displayed there included a diverse range of drawings and paintings by Roy that showcased his artistic range and helped art collectors and aficionados gain a deeper level of understanding of the true extent of Ram Babu's skill as an art collector

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