An artist whose works are relevant even after eight decades

His dazzling depictions of mythological subjects, rendering images from Ramayana and Mahabharata to go with those of contemporary workers/ peasants remain relevant even after a passage of over eight decades. In a way, he can be credited with making art accessible to a wider section of society, through his realistic representations of the rural everyday chores of the jovial Bengali community.

Highlighting Jamini Roy’s contributions, veteran art critic Suneet Chopra had elaborated in an essay: “An important development in the evolution of contemporary Indian art was the discovery of Indian folk traditions by artists with an academic training. Attempts to evolve a genuinely Indian artistic expression prior to this were restricted to reviving the miniature styles. Nandalal Bose employed the mural and the use of tempera in our modern artistic expression. He also introduced the simplicity of the scroll-painters of Bengal into contemporary painting. But the artist who took it to the level of a style was Jamini Roy.”

The most recent major posthumous displays of his paintings are 'The Body Unbound', Rubin Museum of Art, New York (2011-12); 'Ethos V: Indian Art Through the Lens of History (1900 to 1980), Indigo Blue Art, Singapore; 'States of Departure: Progressives to Present Day', Aicon Gallery, London; 'Roots in the Air, Branches Below', San Jose Museum of Art; 'The Emergence of Indian Modern Art', Aicon Gallery (all in 2011); 'Modern Folk', Aicon, New York (2010); 'Indian Art After Independence', Emily Lowe Gallery, Hempstead; 'Kalpana: Figurative Art in India', courtesy ICCR at Aicon, London; 'Moderns and More', Aicon, Palo Alto (2009).

Among the awards he won for his artistic excellence are Viceroys Gold Medal (1935); and honorary D. Litt., Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata (1967). Apart from being chosen as fellow, Lalit Kala Akademi, Delhi in 1956, he was honored with Padma Bhushan by the Government of India (1955).

Jamini Roy took a gamble in breaking away from the tradition, to set his own stylistic and thematic agenda, even while staying true to the core values that shaped him as a person and as an artist, making him one of the highly influential painters of the 20th century era.