JAMINI ROY (1887–1972) UNTITLED | INDIAN GOUACHE ON PAPER PAINTINGS (C. MID-20TH CENTURY) GOUACHE ON PAPER. 10.5 X 7 IN.

JAMINI ROY (1887–1972) WAS A PIONEERING FIGURE IN INDIAN MODERN ART, CELEBRATED FOR HIS DISTINCTIVE STYLE THAT DREW INSPIRATION FROM BENGALI FOLK AND TRIBAL ART FORMS. TRAINED IN WESTERN ACADEMIC TRADITIONS AT THE GOVERNMENT COLLEGE OF ART, CALCUTTA, HE LATER ABANDONED EUROPEAN REALISM TO CREATE A VISUAL LANGUAGE ROOTED IN INDIAN ETHOS.HIS WORK IS CHARACTERIZED BY BOLD LINES, FLATTENED FORMS, EARTHEN PALETTES, AND SIMPLIFIED FIGURES, ECHOING KALIGHAT PAT PAINTINGS AND RURAL CRAFT TRADITIONS. THE FIRST IMAGE DEPICTS A SEATED WOMAN IN A PENSIVE POSE, HER FEATURES STYLISED WITH ALMOND-SHAPED EYES AND CURVILINEAR FORM, EVOKING DOMESTIC SERENITY. THE SECOND IMAGE PORTRAYS A HORSE-DRAWN CART, FILLED WITH DYNAMIC ENERGY AND GEOMETRIC HARMONY, CELEBRATING VILLAGE LIFE THROUGH A RHYTHMIC COMPOSITION.JAMINI ROY’S ART SOUGHT TO REDEFINE MODERNISM THROUGH A NATIVIST LENS, REJECTING COLONIAL AESTHETICS IN FAVOR OF INDIGENOUS ICONOGRAPHY AND MATERIALS. HIS WORK CONTINUES TO SYMBOLIZE THE CULTURAL RESURGENCE OF EARLY 20TH-CENTURY INDIA AND STANDS AS A TESTAMENT TO THE POWER OF TRADITIONAL ART IN CONTEMPORARY EXPRESSION.

THESE WORKS ARE HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER, MUCH LIKE THOSE BY RENOWNED ARTISTS SUCH AS M.F. HUSAIN, S.H. RAZA, F.N. SOUZA, AKBAR PADAMSEE, HEMENDRANATH MAZUMDAR, RAM KUMAR, JAMINI ROY, B. PRABHA, TYEB MEHTA, AND MANY OTHERS. THEY ARE OFTEN SOLD BY AUCTIONEERS TO COLLECTORS AROUND THE GLOBE