Tribal, Working Women With Bold Personalities Were A Big Part Of Jamini Roy's Works

Artist Jamini Roy born today (April 11, 1887) manifested most of his art in some iconic paintings of women. These were simple, clear, with bold outlines and powerful. His underlying quest was 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.

Sketch by Jamini Roy, Credit: Akar Prakar

Roy adopted the simplification of the forms, the bold, flat colours and the medium, material and themes of local folk paintings. He discarded expensive canvas and oil paint and opted for the more inexpensive material and medium of the folk artist. His most revered art work is the Ramayana but for many generations it's the style below of capturing women.

Works such as 'Gopini' are typical of Roy's paintings, which attempt to locate a distinctive Indian modernity at the limit of the village and the urban, the tribal and the modern.

Gopini by Jamini Roy, Credit: Archer India

Working Women With Bold Personalities Were A Big Part Of Jamini Roy's Works

Jamini Roy, Credit Pinterest