$25,830
Jamini Roy (Indian, 1887-1972) Wedding Procession Signed indistinctly l. r. Tempera on canvas, 22 x 35 1/2 in. (55.8 x 90.1 cm), framed. Condition: Minor abrasions, craquelure, surface grime. N.B. Jamini Roy, born in 1887 and from a village in Bankura, district of Bengal, trained at the prestigious Calcutta Government School of Art with the modern Indian artist Abanindranath Tagore. There, Roy became well versed in Western art from Old Masters to Impressionism. Upon leaving school, however, Roy realized that he wanted to draw inspiration form his own culture and he looked to the native 19th century Kalighat painting tradition. His subject matter, therefore, included the Ramayana (a Sanskrit epic poem), Christ, and portraits of contemporary figures such as Mahatma Gandhi. He also restricted his palette to seven colors: Indian red, yellow ocher, cadmium green, vermilion, gray, blue, and white, all mineral, earthy tones. Roy's turn to Indian folk art, together with his training in modern art, resulted in distinctive visual style where naively rendered expressive subjects often float in a flattened two-dimensional plane. The popularity of Roy's paintings during the 1930s and 40s show the passage of modern Indian art from its earlier academic tastes to new nativist predilections.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2016-05-13
