Jamini Roy

Jamini Roy was born in 1887 Beliatore, Bankura District (Bengal) .He was one of the most famous pupils of Abanindranath Tagore. He studied at the Government School of Art in Calcutta. He received his Diploma in Fine Art in 1908. He was inspired by the living folks and tribal art forms. He was influenced by the Kalighat Pat, a style of art with bold sweeping brush-strokes. Between 1921 and 1924, he moved away from his earlier impressionist landscapes and portrait and his first period of experimentation started with the Santhal dance.

Contribution to Indian art

His painting style was a reaction against the Western tradition. His techniques as well as subject matter were influenced by traditional art of Bengal. Initially he experimented with Kalighat paintings but found that it has ceased to be strictly a “patua” and went to learn from village patuas. His underlying quest was threefold: to capture the essence of simplicity embodied in the life of the folk people, to make art accessible to a wider section of people, and to give Indian art its own identity.

He received a Viceroy’s gold medal in an all India exhibition in 1934. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 1955. In 1955, he also became the first recipient of Lalit Kala Akademi Fellowship. He died in 1972.