Jamini Roy 10 Lines and Biography
1 Jamini Roy into a moderately prosperous Kayastha family of land-owners in Beliatore village of the Bankura district, West Bengal.
2 Jamini Roy’s paintings from the early 1920s show influences from the Bengal School of art, focussing on the Post-Impressionist genre. Later,his paintings centered on the everyday life of rural Bengal.
3 Later in his career, Roy’s paintings centered on the everyday life of rural Bengal, exploring diverse themes. Religious subjects like Ramayana, Radha-Krishna, and Jesus Christ were included. His paintings showed scenes from the lives of the aboriginals known as Santhals.
4 Initially, Jamini Roy started his career as a portrait painter, working on commission, but soon felt disconnected. He found his artistic calling when in 1925, near the Kalighat temple in Calcutta, Jamini Roy saw Kalighat paintings displayed outside. Influenced by these Bengal folk art pieces he fulfilled his desire to portray the lives of common people, make art accessible to broader audience and revive the lost glory of Indian art could be fulfilled.
5 Around the mid-1930s, Jamini Roy departed from conventional canvas painting and started using unconventional materials like cloth, mats, and wood coated with lime as his canvases. Roy began experimenting with natural colors and pigments in his paintings.
6 Jamini Roys popularity is so much that, in an average middle class art-loving households, one can find his well preserved portraits.
7 In the 20th-century Indian painters were drawn to modern art but his work of simplicity was recognized. He did not sell his paintings for monetary gains and sold for very modest price.
8 Around the mid-1930s, Jamini Roy departed from conventional canvas painting and started using unconventional materials like cloth, mats, and wood coated with lime as his canvases. Roy began experimenting with natural colors and pigments in his paintings.
9 His passion for the art was obvious by the fact that he did not sell the paintings to the buyer who didnt show genuine interest. If he discovered that his paintings were not well-maintained by the buyer, he would buy them back.
10 Jamini Roy gave up modern art and European paints, and opted for Indian folk art, Kalighat paintings in particular.
11 In 1954, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan , the third highest award. In 1934, he received a Viceroy’s gold medal. In 1956, he was made the second Fellow of the Lalit Kala Akademi, the highest honour in the fine arts conferred by the Lalit Kala Akademi, India’s National Academy of Art, Government of India.
12 He was one of the most famous pupils of Abanindranath Tagore, one of the most influential painter and artist of all times.
13 Raised in an art loving household he developed his passion for art at an early age.When he was sixteen he was sent to study at the Government College of Art, Kolkata. Abanindranath Tagore, the founder of Bengal school was vice-principal at the institution. He played a crucial role in his artistic development.
14 Roy started his career as a commissioned portrait painter but he gave up in the early 1920s, to discover his own.
15 Roy began experimenting with natural colors and pigments in his paintings. The changes in style and medium showcased in his work shows Jamini Roy’s artistic evolution, moving from early influences to a diverse range of themes and experimentating with unconventional materials and natural colors.
Roy is known as an art machine because he produced 20,000 paintings in his lifetime.
During the 1940s, the Bengali middle class and the European community became his main clientele as his popularity grew.
In 1946, his work was exhibited in London and in 1953, in New York. His works can be found in various museums and galleries across the globe.
Roys work was exhibited extensively in international exhibitions, in many private and public collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
He preferred himself to be called a patua. He spent most of his life living in Calcutta, initially experimenting with Kalighat paintings but later and went to learn from village patuas.
Initially, his interest was into the Western classical style in his paintings, but soon realized his true passion and shifted away.This marked a turning point in his artistic journey.
Jamini Roy Biography
| Born | 1887 |
| Place of Birth | Bankura district, West Bengal. |
| Occupation | Artist, Painter |
| Alma mater | Government College of Art, Kolkata |
| Parents | Ramataran Roy |
| Awards | Padma Bhushan, Viceroy’s gold medal, Fellow of the Lalit Kala Akademi |
| Children | Four sons and a daughter |