Page 73 - Eye of the beholder

confined to aesthetic parallelism. So it never rose to any degree of authenticity; it never had the earthiness and verve or the sly humour of its close prototypes, whether those of Kalighat or Puri; its linear and formal conventions—the almond shaped eyes, the dead pan looks, the indifferent lines were terribly formulaistic.” Partha Mitter beautifully sums up, “what the cognoscenti failed to grasp is Roy’s radical critique of colonialism through his art. Through his own artistic objectives, this supreme individualist voluntarily returned to the anonymity of tradition”.
The four works in the collection includes “Christ with Disciples” [1940] , “Ganesh Janani”“Pujarini” and “Scene from Ramayana”. His most popular theme was that of “Pujarini” painted in tempera on board and the work was sourced directly from the artist’s family. Its previous owner was Jamini Roy's grandson Debabrata Roy. It is a modest size work representing the woman holding an aarti thali in her hand. Influence of Jain Miniature tradition is manifest in the delineation of elongated eyes going beyond the contours of the face. The oval face in yellow ochre is contoured in black and red, similar style of representation also in the delineation of ears and hands. Roy’s inspiration came from many local traditions as the alopana or the floor decorations, Kantha embroidery, terracotta toys and sculptures. The deep blue of the sari with red striped border and yellow ochre floral buttis has strong resonance to the sartorial attire of rural folks. The effect of dark colours and somber tones is relieved aesthetically by the white earrings, the head ornament, white thread like jewellery around the neck and the white plate with dashes of green and orange. The bold dark brush drawing in heavy linear brush strokes enhances the visual power. The unabashed simplicity of the composition and the full frontal representation makes the work strikingly dynamic.
His extraordinary contribution lay in adapting modernist folk style to Christian subject matter. His “Christ with Disciples” painted on canvas in tempera in 1940 had the focal iconic image of Christ with his hand rendered in protection mudra and flanked by two figures of his disciples. Christ seemingly carries the cross and at the bottom in a rectangular panel is the representation of two fishes, symbols associated with Christ from Roman times before the religion was made official in the 5th century A.D. Schematically composed with absolute symmetry in the placement of figures and forms, it was delineated with his personalized artistic vocabulary, which in this instance has strong resonance to Bankura puppets and wooden toys. Rendered in primary colours with complementary of green and orange offset by creamy off-whites, the composition is singularly striking in its visual aesthetics. The meticulous precision in the outlining of figures the textures obtained through uneven application of paint in terms of light colours over dark tones and the brick like border design marks this work by virtue of its majestic simplicity, primitive vigour and his insightful vision to transcend to become spiritual.
From the vast canvas of mythological repertoire, Jamini Roy engaged with the iconic and endearing Ganesha in his famous “Ganesh Janani” or the Mother of Ganesha. The painting depicts the goddess Parvati seated on the ground cradling her son the elephant-headed god. The goddess wears a simple elegant crown and sartorial attire that has the resonance of Bengali culture particularly in the way the sari is draped, including the two attendant figures placed next to her. Ganesha is one of the most popular gods of the Hindu pantheon, and particularly as the god of wisdom and the one who removes obstacles; he is worshipped before religious ceremonies and any new undertakings. It is painted in a horizontal format with Parvathi seated in the centre providing the seminal focal point of the entire composition. Seated on her lap is the Ganesha, tenderly held by his mother.
67