Gopini

Jamini Roy trained at the Government School of Art, Calcutta (now Kolkata) where he acquired the skills of European Academic realism. As a consequence of the colonial experience he rejected European Academic Realism and evolved a distinctly personal and unique style motivated by an urge to define a cultural identity. His artistic impulses were rooted in his growing years in Beliatore village in the Birbhum district of undivided Bengal. He drew inspiration from the ‘pat’ paintings and temple terracotta relief panels of Bengal and towards the latter half of the ‘20’s he began to develop his own visual language.

Roy discarded expensive art material such as canvas and oil paints and rendered his work on inexpensive material as the folk artists. He limited his colour palette to seven colours that were mostly earth, vegetable and minerals, and glue from tamarind seeds or occasionally egg white to bind the colours.He adapted the sinuous lines of the Kalighat patuas and created sophisticated forms. Roy could not ignore his formal education in art and brought a certain sophistication to his figures.

In ‘Gopini’ we see a monumentality of the figure. Bent lyrically, the figure of the dancer emotes a sense of vibrancy and volume, a striking moment of movement highlighted by the bright and tonally rich use of colours.