The concept of Abanindranath Tagore’s Indiaisation of artwork and Rabindranath Tagore’s essay The Hermitage impressed Jamini Roy when questioned and sought his roots.
The fashion of the famous Bengal singer Jamini Roy, so impressed by the well-known patella style, is so prominent that people almost forget his old works that are entirely different from his latest song.
For nearly 20 years, after graduating from the Authorities Faculty of Artwork during the first decade of the twentieth century, Jamini Roy was immersed in Western fashion art.
“In his first year, after graduating from art school, Jamini Roy presented Impressionist scenes, post-Impressionist portraits, nude people and life influenced by (Vincent) Van Gogh, (Paul) Gauguin, and various Paris artists.
Yet, although he was well-versed in the art of the Western genius, his works were real. And India and Bengal did not leave him.
Life in his career was also the scene of the Indian subcontinent, the peasants, and the Santal women carrying the pots, “said Dr Prakash Kejariwal, an art expert, collector and director and founder of the Kolkata archaeological and industrial gallery.
Portraitures were already in the context of his oeuvre. He also left for their descendants the most popular affair between Poet Laureate Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi in Shanti Niketan within Western Impressionistic fashion.
Artists have been struggling to find a place to live these days. Roy would eventually become the photographs and locations of war veterans who could choose for a small fee.
At the time of his life, Roy was engaged in many odd jobs to earn a living. He worked in a small lithographic Centre and a hardware store and painted the back of the theatre.
Suddenly, a Nationalist wave swept away Jamini Roy, and he never appeared again. Undoubtedly, his education at the Authorities Faculty of Artwork in Calcutta and his Western-friendly nature works were a great help.
Yet, he now embraces the traditional nature and perfection of abundance in abundance. It was a mosaic of human statues, the Kalighat pat fashion and temple artwork.
Lack of livelihood, caused by his abandonment of Western art, led him to face hardships that strengthened his determination to pursue the Indian race. Eventually, she created memorable images like Mama and Little and her famous ‘single line’ ladies. The roots of such fine works are to be found within the terracotta temples of Bengal.
Roy’s first phase was decoration, to some extent. There were beautiful colours and motifs. Later, his work gradually changed.
“It was like Matisse’s work. He spent a long time before his final stage arrived. It is because he was a psychologist. So, he spent all of that thinking of ways to look different, but he still said what he needed to say,” said Kejariwal.
The transition from the artist, whose original works are like Western fashion, to the artist who fully embraces the traditional style also follows between the ’20s and early 30s. That was the fashion he kept perfect for the rest of his life, which led to the quintessential Jamini Roy.
It so happened that Abanindranath Tagore’s idea of Indian craftsmanship and Rabindranath Tagore’s essay, The Hermitage, published in Prabasi, a well-known Bengali textbook of the day, in 1908, which Jamini Roy read aloud in 1923, fascinated him with nationalism and patriotism.
Surprisingly, his artistic work attracted the attention of such fine artists as the three famous Tagore’s – Rabindranath, Abanindranath, and Gaganendranath. Even international art lovers like JBS Haldane (Sir William Dunn Reader in Biochemistry at Cambridge College in their twenties) and his sister Naomi Mitchison said it’s over.”
English artist Frederick Harry Baines (1910-1995) wrote that Roy’s work did not suffer in Artwork Information and Opinions. On the contrary, his excellent work ensured high stress and an economic system. An article about Roy also appeared in the French magazine L’Artwork.
The famous Russian film director Vsevolod Illari Novich Pudovkin (1893-1953) and the famous actor Nikolai Cherkasov (1903-66) often compiled his work, spreading critics from entirely different nations, together with the British novelist, British Forster, wrote about Roy’s works.
His collectors were distributed throughout China, France, Russia, England, Germany and the US.
“After moving from his original Western career to the Pata fashion, Roy’s works were like Ramayana, Krishna Leela, Ganesh Leela, Radha-Krishna, Christ, Shiva-Parvati-Ganesha, mother and young child of various kinds, people and rural backgrounds, village men, lady, and animals, among different species.
With his Kalighat Pata fashion, his styles are simple yet advanced. His Pata types are simple and bold. Based on the original pottery images, the species were round from the
beginning,” says illustrator Anjan Sen. “Because of the patua upbringing, he began searching for more jobs by reproducing his works. He didn’t need his work to be just museum and gallery items.
His good worries remained while the colours were choked by two students who had worked tirelessly with him for the last 15 years of his life. These are none other than the works of Jamin Roy’s studio, signed and approved by him.
This was due to the great demand for his work, and the good artist needed to make it available to more people with cheaper tags,” said Kejariwal.
Roy was recently quoted saying, “Peace is not suitable for an artist. How is that possible? Thoughts constantly struggle and burn in the application of the invention
