Osian's Auction Catalogue Masterpieces and Museum-Quality III | March 2004

55 MASTERPIECES & MUSEUM-QUALITY III 20 JAMINI ROY (1887-1972 / b. Beliatore, Bankura District, West Bengal) National Art Treasure Christ with Two Disciples Signed in Bengali l.r. Tempera on cloth pasted on paper board, mid 1940s 79.5 x 40.7 cm (31.3 x 16.0 in) Minor damage to the lower section of the work with slight fraying of the margins and minor flaking of paint in the t.c. section of the work. Rs. 600,000 – 700,000 Non-Exportable Lot “…it cannot be denied that he [Jamini Roy] has introduced into these portraits [of Christ] a new tenderness and a quality of intense homeliness which neither the Byzantine, with his abstract intensity and other-worldly mysticism, nor the humanist painter, with his essentially human conception of Christ, had ever quite captured. In particular, one can find a close parallel between Jamini Roy’s studies of Christ and the anonymous French folk-painters of the 12th century whom Gauguin copied. Whilst subordinating the structure of the face, to decorative rhythm, the artist, in both cases, depends on isolated facial features (the eyes, the mouth and the beard) to convey a quality of homeliness and human warmth.” (Bishnu Dey and John Irwin, rpt. in Jamini Roy , 1944; p.26.) The earliest work in the Christ & Two Disciples series is illustrated in plate xi, rpt. in Bishnu Dey and John Irwin’s pioneering book Jamini Roy 1944. Lot 20 represents a slightly later work from the same important series. OSIANs S.I.R. ANALYSIS [1992-2003] Present Estimate 1,198.08 Previous Highs 3,213.78 [Os.Mum/19.10.01] 3,113.27 [Ch. Lon/02.06.98] Previous Average 717.32 Opinion Next to M.F. Husain, Jamini Roy has the most number of public auction transactions to his name. Given the authentication problems and the number of very ordinary works which reach the public, Jamini Roy’s market has been adversely affected at the lower & middle-range quality of works. Yet his artistic & historical significance is second to none. Hence, once there is security regarding authenticity, the great paintings by Jamini Roy, which are now very difficult to access, will command S.I.R.’s in excess of 5,500.