Jamini Roy’s canvases will leave you spellbound

The first of its kind in Hyderabad, the specially curated exhibition of Jamini Roy’s works at Salarjung Museum is a showcase of his journey and struggle as an artist

Jamini Roy, the Indian artist who is credited for bringing international status to Indian folk art came from a traditional feudal family. His early childhood was spent in a village surrounded by natural beauty and artistic influence of the patuas, potters and wood carvers. And despite his early influence of European art as every student of Calcutta School of Art in those days would be, he constantly pursued his identity and in the process explored various forms of art and mediums.

His life is known to have been spent in poverty and constant struggle for survival until he was recognised for his art. Yet, his works did not reflect the apathy and turbulence. He found his calling in the native patua art and his subjects included Indian images and iconography. The Salarjung Museum, Ministry of Culture, Government of India and RAD (Reflection of Another Day), Kolkata, has organised an exhibition of Jamini Roy’s original works in the Western Block.

The exhibition marks the 128th birth anniversary of the great artist. Excellently curated by two eminent art collectors and connoisseurs Ganesh P Singh and Vinay M Sheth, the show trails the journey of the artist and his life through his paintings, letters and photographs.

The portrait of the Sardarji in watercolour that focuses on the detailing must have been Jamini Roy’s work during his early days as student of art. Even though it comes across as one of the early work, it establishes the artist’s preference for earthy colours and intensity of the eyes that more or less defined his works even when he continued to do the folk inspired eyes in all his portraits.

Before the Bengal School of Art, the European art education aimed at producing draftsmen to recreate Indian landscapes, its people and way of life, which did have its influence on the artist as is visible in his post-impressionist landscapes. Through his lifetime Jamini Roy did many landscapes – however the later year ones reflected his many influences like the landscape that had ample use of blue colour – clearly an influence of the Dutch paintings.

During the early 20th century Indian art movement led by likes of Abanindranath moved towards Indian in its representation of themes and nationalism. Jamini Roy’s initial struggle to move away from the western school towards Indian iconography and identity did bring in a marked change in his style even as his process of liberation began.

His other paintings like the one with a vase and fruits around it and the water colour of the British colonial structure are clearly European in their influence, what most students from Bengal School of Art would have done, but even then one saw his style getting established – his effort to arrive at Jamini Roy that the world knew.

His bringing the many facets of a scene into two-dimensional space, use of flat colours, his exploration of various schools of art, his many influences from across the world, especially his predominant influence of the folk traditions of Santhal tribe and the Kalighat paintings revealed through his works.

The simple thick-thin lines and the elongated eyes of the Kalighat paintings more or less became his trademark for years to come. His paintings inspired by temple sculptures are evidently his stamp of approval of the sculptures as a form of art, unlike many of his contemporaries. There is a rhythm to his forms. In short his works are bold, indigenous, simple and lyrical.

There is one portrait of a lady, in most probability, Sarada Devi, so simple yet so expressive, especially the lips and the eyes. The same is the case with his other portraits, of a married woman, the widow, his depiction of Lord Siva with Ganesha on his shoulder. The last one in particular is an interesting work – his depiction of Siva is very Bengali with all his signature elements intact and the way Shiva holds Ganesha is tender and so very fatherly.

He always tried new forms, new ways of expressions and new subjects. He drew heavily from Indian mythology. His Krishna panels, his Ramayana paintings are all familiar subjects treated with Jamini Roy’s touch. The uniqueness comes through starkly, like in his paintings of Krishna’s Vastra Harana Leela and Sita in Asoka Van amidst the Rakshasas.

He used decorative motifs to highlight the main subjects and also several other decorative folk borders. He also experimented with his canvas using textured background. Another interesting body of work is his Christ series. In addition to images of Christ, Crucifixion and other Christian imagers, he must have done several paintings of ‘Last Supper’.

In fact a film on him that was screened at the launch of the exhibition shows him working on his last painting that remained unfinished – yet another ‘Last Supper’. The special exhibition of Jamini Roy is the first of its kind in Hyderabad. The art will be on display at the Salarjung Museum Gallery till May 31.

By:Rajeshwari Kalyanam