Suhas Roy depicted the face of Jesus portraying pain and agony. Incredulous as they appear, the pair of eyes convey a sense of gloom and despair which the artist has captured with an exquisitely controlled juxtaposition of sepia, brown, Indian red and black. Red arrows ponting towards Jesus is symbolic of the pain and the torture he went through. Suhas Roy’s Christ is now a part of the prestigious collections of the Vatican City, a rare honour for any artist.
The artist painted his first Christ sometime in the 1970s, and has since portrayed Jesus innumerable times, in pencil, pastel and oil. Last year, on the occasion of the exposition of St Francis Xavier in Goa, held once every 10 years, he did a painting of Jesus for a show titled ‘Bridging the Gaps … Through the Gospel’.
Style :
He is one of the biggest and the most enduring names in the genre of Indian modern art. Often dubbed the father of female figurative forms. Radha Series and the Christ Series in soft pastel on paper and intense Oil on canvas paintings .Consequently, his recent body of works, “Drops of Silence”, executed in oil, pastels and pen-and-ink etchings on backdrops in watercolours, are all studies of “mysterious slightly surreal nude women floating in a void”. Roy’s forte is Radhika – dark, enigmatic, beautiful Indian women with the slightest smile and ethereal in its quality .
About the Artist & his work :
Born : 1936, Bangladesh.
Education :
1953-58 Diploma in Painting, Indian College of Art and Draughtsmanship, Calcutta.
1956-66 Studied graphic art under the guidance of S.W. Hayter, Atelier 17 and mural art at cole Superior Des Beaux Art, Paris.
Exhibitions :
His works have been exhibited all over the world through exhibitions like the Asian Graphic Prints Traveling Exhibition, USA, the Tokyo Print Biennale, Japan, Contemporary Indian Art, Yugoslavia, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Hungry, and Wounds, at the Central Institute Modern Art, New Delhi, and the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.
Honours and Awards :
• 1986: Certificate of Merit, Symphony, Hoshiarpur
• 1973 :Certificates of Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata
• 1970 :West Bengal Academy of Drama and Fine Arts, Kolkata
• 1969: All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi .
• 1968 :1st All India Graphic Exhibition by Group 8
• 1957-58:Annual Exhibition, Indian College of Arts and Draughtsman ship, Kolkata.
