Osian's Auction Catalogue The Osianama Series |February 2013

88 “Once the artist was sure of his path, it was only a question of moving ahead. He had already been fascinated by the bold sweeping lines of the Kalighat pats and some of his early works, especially the compositions of women, are characterised by curvilinear drawing and bold strokes. His Kalighat-type works show some signs of sophistication, and this may be due to their urban or semi-urban root. The artist’s later works reflect a closer affinity with the rural pats. In short, now started an attempt on his part to further simplify his works… In this attempt at simplification, Jamini Roy tried to preserve certain basic forms, colours and patterns. He attempts to shed the non-essentials in his search for certain universal elements and reaches a stage where his figures, shorns of frills and decorations, attain a frieze-like architectonic quality…In the process of simplification, besides solving some technical problems, he also tried to give up the literary content in the pictures. The success he achieved is certainly something unique.” – Ajit Kumar Das, rpt. in LKA Monograph 1987 . 43 Jamini Roy 11 April 1887 – 24 April 1972 Vaishnav Pujarin’s Tempera on canvas pasted on cardboard, Early 1950s Signed in Bengali ‘Jamini Roy’ l.r. 21.7 x 12.4 in (55.0 x 31.5 cm) Provenance Private Jaipur-based Collection ` 800,000 – 1,600,000 US$ 14,550 – 29,100 GBP 10,000 – 20,000 National Art Treasure Non-Exportable Item Illustrative Reference Please refer to NGMA Collections Catalogue, Vol. 1 (Acc. No. 63). Colour Illustration from the same series p.25 & entry on p.40. Please refer toRao, P.R. Ramachandra. Contemporary Indian Art . Madras: Vacha Fine Arts, 1969; p.30, Fig. 6 for colour illustration of painting from the same series as Lot 43. detail