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Lot 71

 

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Born in Bankura, West Bengal, in 1887, Jamini Roy was an early pioneer of Indian modernism, renowned for his distinctive flat, linear style reminiscent of indigenous folk art and Kalighat pats. However, long before he developed this signature pictorial language, he trained in Western academic realism at the Government School of Art and Craft, Calcutta, in 1903-04. In the initial few years of his career, he established himself as an... Born in Bankura, West Bengal, in 1887, Jamini Roy was an early pioneer of Indian modernism, renowned for his distinctive flat, linear style reminiscent of indigenous folk art and Kalighat pats. However, long before he developed this signature pictorial language, he trained in Western academic realism at the Government School of Art and Craft, Calcutta, in 1903-04. In the initial few years of his career, he established himself as an acclaimed portrait painter, his first commission being a portrait of Rabindranath Tagore’s father Debendranath Tagore.

As Manasi Majumder observes, a number of Roy’s early paintings demonstrate his preoccupation with modern Western art. He closely studied the technique of Impressionist masters such as Rembrandt and Van Gogh, often reproducing their portraits in his own style in an attempt to better understand their technique and application of colour. These works show his “keen interest in not so much replicating the portrait as in building up an image with separate brush strokes, a Post-Impressionist technique which he creatively employed in many of his later works such as the portrait of Rabindranath and Gandhi.” (Manasi Majumder, “Jamini Roy-Modernism’s Nationalist Face,” Jamini Roy National Art Treasure, Kolkata: Purba Publications, 2015, p. 46) With bold strokes and the skilful application of colour, Roy employs this Impressionist style to great effect in the present lot, a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi. The colour palette used in this work is indicative of the simplified palette he would use in his later paintings, which was limited to seven colours: Indian red, yellow ochre, cadmium green, vermillion, grey, blue, and white.

By the 1920s, Roy found himself affected by the strong wave of nationalism that swept India during the time and began to question his approach towards art. He eventually dismissed the prevailing Western academic painting style as well as the revivalist Bengal School movement led by Abanindranath Tagore, and instead turned to Indian artistic traditions and tribal art forms for inspiration, finally developing a style that accentuated the linear expression of Indian folk art, which he would become best known for.

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