Jamini Roy – The very name evokes images of bright, rich colours, large symbolic eyes, bold, flowing, curved lines and a sense of the theatrical. An artist whose work was difficult to define – contemporary art or folk art. An artist who was one of the fathers of the Indian contemporary art movement.

Jamini Roy was born in 1887 in a village in the Bankura district of West Bengal – an area well known for various forms of folk art and craft especially pottery and clay work – the famous Bankura horse being a prime example.

Roy moved to Calcutta in 1903 and joined the Government School of Art. The school in those days was highly dominated with the influence of the Tagores as well as the current Western styles. The early works of Jamini Roy do show signs of these influences. In fact, the early days saw Jamini Roy go in many different directions. However, attraction to the Tagore styles was minimal unlike other students of his time. Western influences however, did play a dominant part initially and Roy spent a lot of time on following the tenets of European 18th century art.

As a student, Roy used to survive by doing various jobs such as colouring wood block prints for broadsheets made by Battala print makers. He even had a stint in Allahabad as a stone re-toucher for a Litho-press. Finally after a few unsettled years he was back in Calcutta and free-lanced as a portrait painter.

It was not long before dissatisfaction set in and Roy also realized that portrait painting not only would not set him apart from the hordes of painters in Calcutta but also would not fulfil the creative urge in him. Also, during these years, Roy had been experimenting with gauche paintings in the line of Impressionist work. This too, left Roy feeling incomplete and dissatisfied and searching for an identity.

This yearning and denial of the European styles was perhaps the turning point in Jamini Roy’s career as well as a key moment in Indian Modern Art. Seeking a visual vocabulary of his own, Jamini Roy moved away from traditional academic art and turned towards his roots. From about the mid 1920’s Roy started experimenting with folk art styles. Initially he drew a lot of inspiration from Kalighat Pat paintings as well as terracotta work on temple walls of Bengal especially Bishnupur temple. He also showed his fascination for the paintings of peasant painters of Bengal who used to sell their work at the rural bazaars.

From this, evolved the Jamini Roy the world knows so well. The lines became bolder and simpler, the colours rich and the images lyrical. Over time, Roy moved away from canvas and started using different types of fabric, cloth, wood, mats, etc. and started using colours and pigments made from vegetables.

The art of Jamini Roy was a milestone in contemporary Indian Art. Not only did it break away from the notion that art was the sole preserve of the upper classes and had to necessarily follow European styles but it also brought to fore the folk art language. Introduction of bold yet simple and minimal use of lines also brought in the new wave of reducing images to the bare essentials and yet tell the story emphatically.

Jamini Roy – categorized differently by different people – from folk artist to contemporary to rebel artist – was unique in himself and was one of the prime movers of the contemporary art movement in India. Jamini Roy – one of the fathers of Modern Indian Art passed away in 1972 in Calcutta.