Cat and Lobster

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.

‘The Cat and Lobster’ was one of the favourite themes of the Kalighat patuas and Roy with his animal forms brought a greater degree of simplification to try and achieve the universal essence of form. The cat is devoid of all traces of naturalism and instead has been painted in a bold charming way, showing an energetic creature who holds the lobster in his jaws with great glee.