Remembering Jamini Roy, the artist who gave an identity to Indian folk art

A student of Abanindranath Tagore and the creator of 'Indian Society of Oriental Art', Roy played an integral part during the movement of Indian nationalism. His artistic expression, inspired by local Indian culture, helped shape the identity of Indian art. Unlike Tagore, whose works focussed on mythologies and ancient history, Jamini's art was inspired by folk and tribal groups. The grassroots of the nation became his forte - he would not paint the queen but the tribal mother stroking her baby.

Unlike western academic art which idealised subjects, for instance, Ravi Verma, Roy depended on the depiction of tribal everyday life particularly Kalighat patua style. He changed over completely to an indigenous style, even ditching the canvas for woven mats, cloth, and wood. His works are characterised by flat color application, an emphasis on lines and subjects enclosed in a decorative border or motifs.He restricted his palette to seven colours- Indian red, yellow ochre, cadmium green, vermillion, grey, blue and white. These were mostly earthy or mineral colours.

He was born on 11th April 1887 into a modest family of land-owners in Beliatore village in the Birbhum district of undivided Bengal at that time.

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He studied at the Government College of Art, Kolkata where he was taught to paint in the existing academic traditional drawing classical nudes and painting in oils. However, he soon realised that this wasn't his calling. He accomplished that he needed to draw inspiration from his own culture instead of focussing on the western one--that is when living folk and tribal art became his inspiration. He was influenced by Kalighat Pat - an art style that involved bold sweeping brush-strokes.

His stylewas his reaction against the Western or traditional academic style of painting. He began his career as a commissioned portrait painter. In the early 1920s, he abruptly gave that up to discover his own style.

His pursuit was to encapsulate the spirit of simplicity contained in the life of the folk people, make art accessible to a larger section of the society, and to give an identity to Indian art.

Jamini Roy's debut exhibition was held in the British India Street of Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1938. During the 1940s, his popularity touched new highs, with the Bengali middle class and the European community becoming his main clientèle. Eventually, his work traveled across borders, to the United States and Europe. He was presented with the Padma Bhushan award in 1955.
His work can be found in many private and public collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. He spent most of his life living and working in Calcutta. Initially, he experimented with Kalighat paintings but found that it has ceased to be strictly a "patua" and went to learn from village patuas. Consequently, his techniques, as well as subject matter, was influenced by the traditional art of Bengal.

He preferred himself to be called a patua. Jamini Roy died in 1972. He was survived by four sons and a daughter. Currently, his successorsstay at the house built by him in Ballygunge Place, Kolkata.