New Delhi, Feb 16: Fading behind Western aesthetics for quite a while, Indian art emerged bright from its imperialistic eclipse in the last century through a curious paradox, which is now evident from a landmark exhibition in the national capital.
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| 'Mary',tempera on cardboard, 25 x 15 in |
Renowned Jamini Roy, as if administering an antidote of sorts, resorted to “radical primitivism” in his painting, thus lending it a fresh dose of “critical modernity” to the entire scene nation-wide—going by the Bengal-born master’s works that are on display at Dhoomimal Gallery here.
A major interesting result, thus, was the defining presence of honey-brown human skin in the ouvre of iconic Jamini, whose tryst with the Santhal tribe of his native Bengal went on to prove epoch-changing for the Indian art. This element of “sunburned Indian summer” comes to refreshing view at the ongoing exhibition ‘Carved Contours’ where 80-odd Jamini drawings and paintings are out on their first-ever public show.
“From the radical primitivism of the Santhals grew the critical modernity of his oeuvre,” notes scholar-columnist Uma Nair who has the curated the exhibition in the Connaught Place venue that will run till March 10.
Substantiating how the creative zest of Jamini (1887-1972) was “born out of a tissue of paradoxes”, she notes that the master who was initially introduced to Western studies and landscape vignettes wanted to find his own insignia. “Modernism for Jamini lay hidden in the lives of the common people, the marginalized Santhals. Their bronzed bodies became the allure for his subsequent works.”
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| 'Ravana', tempera on cardboard,15 x 20 in |
Interestingly, this idiom of depiction was something Jamini employed while portraying mythological characters—be it from the Puranas or the Bible. “His Krishna, Balram and Gopinis besides the figures of Christ and Virgin Mary—all radiate a sense of compassion,” notes Nair, who did two months of intense research on Jamini Roy ahead of the exhibition that essentially features works from the private collection of Uma, Ravi and Ram Babu Jain Estate which owns 80-year-old Dhoomimal Gallery.
The curator notes that the art of Jamini, who was born in Beliatore town 180 km away from Kolkata, reflects the genesis of neo folk idioms when the country had none. “He created a lingua franca of parallel aesthetics born out of his love for both folk lore and the power of the narrative,” she adds.
As a prime disciple of celebrated Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951), Jamini’s “limpid lines celebrated the lyricism of lithe satin smooth seduction while his colours gave us the gravitas of the sunburnt Indian summer”, notes Nair. “Adept in the handling of myths and tales from socio-religious customs, his works became the emblematic symbol of the triumph of modernism, which he founded in the Indian art world.”
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| Untitled (Mother and Child) tempera on board,28 x 32 in |
Toeing a similar line, veteran Uma Jain of Dhoomimal—India’s oldest gallery— notes that eclecticism drawn from tradition and improvisation moulded Jamini Roy’s style. “The sweeping lines encompassing large areas in bright colour come from the Kalighata Pat painters,” she points out. “Yet the lines demonstrate the sophistication and the mastery of brush.”
