Google Doodle Pays Tribute To Famous Indian Artist Jamini Roy Tuesday April 11,2017

Google doodle celebrated the birth anniversary of world-renowned Bengali painter, Jamini Roy.

 Born on this day in the last century, Mr Roy is one of the most significant modernists in the world of Indian fine arts of the 20th century. 

He was also accorded with the honour of Padma Bhushan award in 1955.

The National Gallery of Modern Art says Mr Roy "turned to the folk arts of Bengal". As brought out quite simplistically in the Google doodle, Jamini Roy exhibited use of bold, flat but dazzling colours unlike the natural colour palette used at that time. His style was restricted his palette to seven colours- Indian red, yellow ochre, cadmium green, vermillion, grey, blue and white. Even though he is known for his distinctive style, the artist is also identified as one of the most famous students of Abanindranath Tagore.

Jamini Roy was born in the year 1887 in Beliatore, Bankura part of erstwhile undivided Bengal. The versatile artist's career spanned over six long decades. Mr Roy graduated in British academic style of painting from the Government Art School. During this phase, he also made copies of European masters. Although, he was a skillful portrait artist, in the era when nationalist movement took its roots in the visual imagination of many artists, he rejected the art he was trained in.

Years later, he began experimenting with folk art. For inspiration, he turned back towards his own district, painted his own people thus honing his craft. It is this work that brought Mr Roy both national and international recognition. His work included not just paintings but also wooden sculptures rooted in the village culture that shaped his early years.

Some of his notable works include Gopini, Three Pujarans, Standing woman, Bengali Woman among many others. Many of these can be viewed in the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi.