| Medium | : | Tempera |
|---|---|---|
| Height | : | 17.6 inch / 44.7 cm |
| Width | : | 6.6 inch / 16.8 cm |
| Dimension | : | W: 16.8 cm × H: 44.7 cm |
A graceful Jamini Roy tempera on board depicting a village woman carrying a pot, dressed in a patterned yellow sari with bold folk-inspired stylization. With its striking flat colors, rhythmic patterns, and strong outlines, this work beautifully embodies Roy’s celebration of rural life and Bengal’s folk traditions in a timeless modernist language.
Jamini Roy | Untitled | Tempera on Board | 10 x 8 inches | Circa
Jamini Roy’s Tribal Lady with Pot on Her Head exemplifies his mastery in fusing folk traditions with modernist sensibilities. Jamini Roy’s striking portrayal of a tribal woman bearing a water pot exemplifies his radical reimagining of indigenous Indian visual idioms in the mid‑20th century. The artist’s choice of a deep terracotta field intensifies the figure’s dark, statuesque form, while the vibrant yellow skirt—patterned with rhythmic blue and red waves—echoes the undulating landscapes of Bengal’s hinterland. Roy’s economy of line and color reduces the subject to elemental shapes: the arching arm, the simple pot, the stylized facial profile. Yet these minimal forms convey both the everyday ritual of water‑carrying and the enduring dignity of tribal women. In art history, this painting marks a pivotal moment when vernacular traditions were elevated to the modernist canon, inspiring future generations to explore local heritage as a source of universal expression. His influence continues to inspire contemporary artists, preserving India’s visual heritage through a bold, distinctive style.
One of india’s most loved artists, Jamini Roy is remembered for forging a unique indian aesthetic for modern art by bringing together elements of traditional bengali folk art and kalighat patachitras, rendered in clean lines and earthy colours.
Born on 11 April 1887 in a landowning family in Bankura district of Bengal, Roy trained in European academic-realist painting at the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Calcutta, and began his career painting landscapes and portraits.
Soon, moving away from these, he started experimenting with a more indigenous visual vocabulary. Level surfaces, flattening of design in depth, and the use of dissonant primary colours were aspects of folk painting that Roy incorporated in his work. Also, he took up the volumetric forms of the Kalighat patachitras. However, unlike the spontaneous brushwork of the traditional patuas, Roy’s lines were more restrained and precisely delineated.
Roy would paint several versions of a subject, breaking and reforming the theme over months. Turning his family into a production unit, he tried to emulate a craft-guild mode of artistic production. He painted on a wide range of themes—common people, mythological tales, Christian iconography, as well as visual characteristics of home-sewn Bengal quilts and Byzantine icons.
Roy was awarded the Viceroy’s gold medal in 1935, the Padma Bhushan in 1955, and elected a fellow of the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1956. Declared a National Treasure artist in 1976, his works cannot be exported. He passed away on 24 April 1972.
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