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Jamini Roy
Accession No . 3122
Artist Name. Jamini Roy
Title. Mother and Child
Medium. Watercolour on paper
Size. 22.8 x 28 cm
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It was probably around 1919 or 1920 that Jamini Roy moved away gradually from European naturalism in search of his own idiom. The Mother and Child image emerged as one of the favourite themes of Roy and here he evokes the mother's protective tenderness towards her child with great sensitivity. There are infinite variations of the mother and child figures. It is difficult to gauge at this distance of time what thoughts led him to experiment with this theme. One wonders whether the subject had an emotional charge for him. Were his experiments with the theme an outcome of Bengal's obsession with mother worship? Or was it just an interesting juxtaposition of forms which helped the possibility of endless explorations? This painting done against a dull background shows the mother seated and holding the child in her arms with her drape beautifully encompassing her figure in entirety. Both the mother and child have the almond shaped eyes with a stimulating frontal gaze and the innocence of the figures is strongly suggestive in their humble demeanour. The artist has astutely introduced the colour red in the hem of the garment and also as the border encompassing the painting.
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