Jamini Roy (1887-1972) was an Indian painter from Kolkata (Calcutta in West Bengal).

Roy achieved success first as a portrait painter. Then in the 1920s he changed his style to use elements from Bengali peasant art. This lead to a period of great poverty, but he persevered. He had to make his own paints from basic materials. In the 1930s, leading Indian writers and critics began to recognize that Roy was forging a new style of art, intrinsically Indian and original. Ultimately Roy gained international fame for his distinctive style. About 1944, he befriended Austin Coates, who became an ardent supporter. Coates was one of few who Roy let observe him work.

Key Works

• "Bride and two Companions", 1952, tempera on card, 75 x 39 cm. Coates described the painting: "Note the magnificent indigo of Bengal, and how the palms of the bride's hands are smeared with red sandalpaste. Jamini Roy's choice of colours looks at first sight purely decorative. In fact, nearly every thing in his pictures has a reason and a meaning."

• "Dual Cats with one Crayfish", 1968, tempera on card, 55.5 x 44 cm. Coates wrote: "Yet another new style, colours reduced in number and very restrained, an almost overwhelming sense of formality."

External links

• Bonhams auction shows "Bride and two Companions".

Indian painters | 1887 births | 1972 deaths

The First But Forgotten Exhibition by Satyasri Ukil http://www.chitralekha.org/jamini.htm