#memory
Jamini Roy.
11 April is the birth anniversary of Jamini Roy (1887-1972) .
Born in Beliatore, West Bengal, Roy was trained at the Government School of Art, Calcutta and was inspired by Western Modernism and the post-impressionist work of Vincent van Gogh. While he initially established himself as a portrait painter in the Western academic style, the strong wave of nationalism that swept India in the early 20th century urged him to question and reflect upon his approach towards art.
Jamini Roy preferred to plow a different path from the prevailing Western academic realism as well as the revivalist Bengal School movement led by Abanindranath Tagore.
He turned to Indian artistic traditions and tribal art forms such as ‘pattachitra’, Kalighat scroll paintings, and terracotta objects from Bankura, his birthplace, and developed a distinctive style defined by clean, calligraphic lines and bold colours, which he would become best known for.
His subjects included Santhal women, Hindu mythology such as the Ramayana, Mahabharat, and Krishna Leela, life of Christ, and folklore.
One of India’s most important artists of the 20th century, Roy was awarded the Padma Bhushan posthumously in 1955.
