Fawn (c.1940) by Jamini RoyFukuoka Asian Art Museum
Jamini Roy had studied European-style oil painting, but in 1925, under the influence of the Bengal School, he started to develop a distinctive, highly stylised aesthetic, rooted in modernism and Bengal folk arts.
Fawn was painted in 1940, and shows his fully-developed style. Bright, block colours, visible brushstrokes, and black outlines create a bold image. The artwork is made from goache on cardboard, the cheap materials reflecting the limited means of folk artists.
Roy's works draw on the styles, limited palettes, and abbreviated bold touch of the simple folk paintings sold in front of the Kalighat Temple. There is no perspective, and plants and rivers are reduced to symbols.
However, taking a closer look, we see the painting isn't entirely flat. Green streaks suggest shadows, and lend a sense of solidity and shape to the sleek fawn.
And there is a sense of story to the painting. The alert expression seen in the oversized eye and raised ears suggest that we've caught the fawn unaware, and it has just spotted us.
Many were fascinated by the beguiling freshness and striking sense of design in Roy's work, and he became a popular painter during the 1940s. Artists since Roy have followed in his footsteps, seeking lessons from amateur and unknown painters.
