Born in 1887 in a village of the Bankura district in West Bengal, an area especially rich with a folk art tradition.
In 1903 with the consent of his father, he arrived in calcutta and enrolled there in the Govt. School of Art. Despite his ready success, he had, by 1925, begun experimenting along the lines of popular bazaar paintings sold outside the Kalighat temple, Calcutta. By the early 1930s he had made a complete switch to indigenous materials, following the Kalighat idiom back to its source in the scroll paintings of the Bengal countryside.
Roy’s pictures become very popular during the 1940s and clientele included both the Bengali middle class and European community. In 1946, his work was exhibited in London; in 1953 in New York. He was honored with the State award of Padma Bhushan in 1955. He died in 1972 in Calcutta
Born
1887 – 1972
Education
1903-08 Diploma in Fine Arts, Government School of Arts and Craft, Kolkata
Exhibitions
2015 ‘Jamini Roy (1887 -…
Selected Posthumous Exhibitions
2015 ‘Jamini Roy (1887 – 1972): Journey to the Roots’, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi and Mumbai
2015 Akar Prakar, Kolkata
2013 ‘Panoplism’, Nature Morte, New Delhi
2013 ‘The Naked and the Nude: The Body in Indian Modern Art’, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2012 ‘Gallery Collection’, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
2012 ‘Contemporary: A Selection of Modern and Contemporary Art’, prsented by Sakshi Gallery at The Park, Chennai
2011-12 ‘The Body Unbound’, Rubin Museum of Art, New York
2011 ‘Ethos V: Indian Art Through the Lens of History (1900 to 1980), Indigo Blue Art, Singapore
2011 ‘Manifestations VI’, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2011 ‘States of Departure: Progressives to Present Day’, Aicon Gallery, London
2011 ‘Manifestations V’, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2011 ‘Masterclass’, Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi
2011 ‘Time Unfolded’, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi
2011 ‘The Fish Eyed Cosmos’, Apparao Galleries, Chennai
2011 ‘Roots in the Air, Branches Below: Modern & Contemporary Art from India’, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose
2011 ‘The Emergence of Indian Modern Art’, Aicon Gallery, London
2010 ‘Modern Folk: The Folk Art Roots of the Modernist Avant-Garde’, Aicon Gallery, New York
2010 ‘Manifestations IV’, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2010 ‘Celebration 2010’, Annual Exhibition, Kumar Art Gallery, New Delhi
2009 ‘Indian Art After Independence: Selected Works from the Collections of Virginia & Ravi Akhoury and Shelley & Donald Rubin’, Emily Lowe Gallery, Hempstead
2009 ‘In Search of the Vernacular’, Aicon Gallery, New York
2009 ‘Kalpana: Figurative Art in India’, presented by The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) at Aicon Gallery, London; The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR)
2009 ‘Moderns and More’, Aicon Gallery, Palo Alto
2008 ‘Multiple Modernities: India, 1905-2005’, Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA
2008 ‘Post Independence Masters’, Aicon Gallery, New York
2005 ‘Manifestations III – 100 Artists of Contemporary Art’, organized by Delhi Art Gallery at Nehru Centre, Mumbai, Lalit Kala Akademi, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi and Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2004 ‘Manifestations II – 100 Artists of Contemporary Art’, organized by Delhi Art Gallery at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai and Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2003 ‘Manifestations I – Indian Art in the 20th Century’, organized by Delhi Art Gallery at World Trade Centre, Mumbai and Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2003 ‘Exhibition of Works of Jamini Roy’, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
2003 ‘Poetry and Patriotic Fervor’, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2003 ‘Indian Art Pre-Independence’, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2000 ‘Face Off 1900-1980s. An Exhibition of Indian Old Masters and Moderns’, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2000 ‘Art of Bengal : Past and Present 1850-2000’, Centre for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata
1998 ‘Temperas and Sketches’, Art Bazar, Kolkata
1998 ‘The Simplicity of a Pioneer’, The Window, Mumbai
1997-98 Jamini Roy: Bengali Artist of Modern India, Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
1997 ‘Art of Bengal 1850-1950 : Calcutta Metropolitan Festival of Art’, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata
1995 ‘From Seeds to Flowers – Jamini Roy and His Roots’, Romain Rolland Galerie, Alliance Francaise, New Delhi
1990 ‘Centenary Exhibition’, Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai
1987 ‘Centenary Exhibition’, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi
1987 ‘Centenary Exhibition’, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata
Selected Solo Exhibitions
1953 New York
1946 Exhibition inaugurated by E.M. Forest, Burlington Gallery, London
1938 British Indian Street, Kolkata
1937 Samavaya Mansions, Kolkata
1929 Government School of Arts and Craft, Kolkata
Honours and Awards
1967 Awarded honorary D. Litt., Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata
1956 Elected Fellow, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
1955 Awarded Padma Bhushan, Government of India
1935 Awarded Viceroys Gold Medal for ‘Mother Helping the Child to Cross the Pool’.