• NGMA India

    Jamini Roy

    Accession No . 12583 Artist Name. Jamini Roy Title. Sketch-IV Medium. Pen and ink on paper Size. 20 x 13 cm

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    This sketch is an evocative image of a rural community. Divided into two panels the lower one depicts a group of Vaishnavas who go around villages singing kirtans (devotional songs) on the life of Krishna, and seeking alms. There is a nuance of ecstasy in the depiction of figure holding the stringed instrument and the accompanying singers. Roy conveys a sense of an idyll where faith, music and dance combine to create an organic wholeness in life. The upper panel portrays four figures in profile and also holding a dance pose. It is also interesting to see how Roy broke down the figure to the essential form that goes into its making and then synthesised it to suggest a structure. Jamini Roy often drew his imagery from village life narrating the life of the peasants, artisans, and followers of religious cults, village women and adivasis with immense dignity and representations that were authentic using simplification of form inspired by the folk arts of the region that had evolved over the centuries.