Page 53 - Pundole's Auction M0015

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Jamini Roy was trained as an academic painter in the the folk idioms that inspired the artist, it is likely that the
European style, and his early landscapes from the 1920s pixilated effect that the woven surface created appealed to
reflect the influence of French Impressionist painting. As the artist, as it was in part reminiscent of the Byzantine
his search for a more indigenous artistic language evolved, mosaics that inspired many of his own Christian themed
Roy’s works became more closely influenced by Kalighat works.
paintings, the patua paintings of Bengal, and the toy makers
of rural Bengal. The shapes of his figures become simplified In keeping with the spirit of folk artists, Roy also abandons
yet fluid, and his colours become solid planes, sometimes the use of European paints in favour of mineral and
pared down to outlines in monochromes (see previous lot). vegetable pigments that his studio produced themselves.
Over time, the soft curvilinear strokes are replaced by the The logic of his artistic choices led him to establish a
more angular and geometric approach that has been workshop based on artisanal principles, producing with the
adopted in the current work. The 1950s saw Roy continuing help of his apprentices, low priced pictures from a set of
to experiment with his work, particularly with regards his images he had devised. It is not immediately apparent
use of material. According to Ella Datta, it was during this what the current composition depicts, but it has a strongly
period of his career that he introduced the notion of tribal aesthetic and the central carved pole shows a
painting on palm leaf matting, in the manner of the current striking similarity to some of his own wooden sculptures
work. Although the material used is entirely in keeping with that he also created in the 1950s.

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