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This article is reprinted from 'Art & Deal',
May-June, 2000.
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The First But Forgotten Exhibition
by Satyasri Ukil
It is proposed to record here, approximately seventy-one years after
the event, the details of a one-man show where Jamini Roy presented
for the first time his style of painting with folk idioms.
Except in the writings of Jogesh Chandra Bagal (Centenary Volume,
p. 48) this particular exhibition of Roy fails to secure even a passing
mention in the apparently erudite and informative writing of Shahid
Suhrawardy, and Bishnu Dey and John Irwin (Jamini Roy) respectively.
Surprisingly, in none of the subsequent literature on Roy do we find
any mention of this particular exhibition. Why?
Probably due to the absence of proper, informative research Dey and
Irwin had concluded their appreciation of Jamini Roy on an apologetic
note. They wrote: "Despite the lack of fresh achievement in recent
years, Jamini Roy's work nevertheless remains a marvel. He was given
no aid by the atmosphere of Calcutta's world of art... yet, in the
lonely struggle, he has painted magnificent pictures and our gratitude
asks us here: Could we humanly expect more"? (Jamini Roy, p.
30)
| . the first Jamini Roy exhibition was held in 1929 at the
premises of the Government School of Art, Calcutta. This was
sponsored by Mukul Dey. |
Contrary to what Dey and Irwin have to say about the artist having
given "no aid by the atmosphere of Calcutta's world of art",
the first Jamini Roy exhibition was held in 1929 at the premises of
the Government School of Art, Calcutta. This was sponsored by Mukul
Dey, another Indian artist and the first Indian principal of the
art school. From the evidence found about this historic exhibition
it can be proven beyond doubt that Mukul Dey must have launched Roy,
the new patua, in a befitting manner. On the occasion of the
exhibition a decent invitation was printed on a gold-rimmed white
ivory card (dimension: 11. 3 cm x 15 cm) and a four-page catalogue
folder (dimension: 12. 8 cm x 19 cm) was prepared on light yellow
handmade paper, complete with a foreword by Mukul Dey along with titles
and prices of 56 Jamini Roy works on view (See Box
2).
| Mukul Dey had invited Alfred H. Watson, Editor, The Statesman,
Calcutta, to inaugurate this important exhibition... Apart from
securing a significant media coverage for the artist, Watson
had prepared a most interesting inaugural address to declare
open the show |
Mukul Dey had invited Alfred H. Watson, Editor, The Statesman, Calcutta,
to inaugurate this important exhibition, which in retrospect, I feel,
must have been a very wise and pragmatic decision as far as promoting
Roy was concerned. Apart from securing a significant media coverage
for the artist (The Statesman, Tuesday, Oct. 1,1929, p. 14), Watson
had prepared a most interesting inaugural address to declare open
the show (See Box 1). Today, after more than seven
decades, the views of Watson on Roy in particular and the responsibility
of Indian intelligentsia to support and preserve their own cultural
traditions in general would sound almost prophetic! Watson's speech
was unique for another very important reason... his views were rooted
in solid common sense, essentially occidental in quality. As far as
I know, chronologically, this is the first ever documented appreciation
of Roy in India. In 1929, the Tagores at the Indian Society of Oriental
Art (ISOA), Shahid Suhrawardy, Bishnu Dey and John Irwin were yet
to extend their support and appreciation to the post-1921 new patua
paintings of Jamini Roy. Further, in 1929 Roy himself was far from
his subsequent inclusion in the Congress patronised mainstream Indian
art as exhibited at the Lucknow AICC Session in 1936.
Later on in life Mukul Dey (my maternal grandfather) used to talk
about Roy and how the 1929 exhibition was a grand success. He used
to tell us how the sale proceeds of this show were brought to the
artist in a bamboo-basket.
During the summer of 1998 I found the initialled typescript of Watson's
inaugural address along with the exhibition invitation card in Mukul
Dey's papers. Still the story was far from complete and hence not
quite up to my satisfaction. In February 2000, I found a termite-eaten,
fragile, yet somewhat complete piece of the catalogue I was looking
for.
In Delhi I could access the microfilm archives of the Nehru Memorial
Library to trace The Statesman of Oct. 1,1929 which contained on page
14 almost a column-long review of the exhibition. Most interestingly,
there the reviewer had explicitly claimed that Jamini Roy was a product
of Abanindranath Tagore's Bengal School!
| The tradition of indigenous art appreciation in late nineteenth
century and early twentieth century India, specially Bengal,
was a cerebral and emotional gift we received from our more
enlightened British and Japanese well-wishers. |
In fact, why Dey was in a position to appreciate and sponsor Roy so
early as 1929 could be the subject of a very interesting, though debatable
study. The tradition of indigenous art appreciation in late nineteenth
century and early twentieth century India, specially Bengal, was a
cerebral and emotional gift we received from our more enlightened
British and Japanese well-wishers. It is a paradox of our national
history that educated modern Indians had to learn to appreciate their
own rich cultural heritage from some of the greatest Western and Far-Eastern
scholars. Mukul Dey was no exception in this regard. During his fairly
long stay in England (1920 to 1927) he was fortunate enough to interact
with the very cream of English intelligentsia who were great admirers
of indigenous Indian art. Apart from E. B. Havell, who
| .this was the period when Rudyard Kipling's gift of a series
of Kalighat pata-paintings to Victoria and Albert Museum had
drawn public attention to what had been a neglected type of
Indian bazaar art. |
had assigned the status of his "collaborator" to Abanindranath
Tagore, there were other important personalities too, like John Woodroffe
(Arthur Avalon), Laurence Binyon, Muirhead Bone, T. Sturge-Moore,
Henry Tonks and George Clausen who were equally interested and keen
observers of the art of the subcontinent. While in London and as early
as 1926 Dey was already delivering a series of lectures on Indian
art illustrated with lantern slides, under the recommendation of Binyon
and Clausen. Also, this was the period when Rudyard Kipling's gift
of a series of Kalighat pata-paintings to Victoria and Albert Museum
had drawn public attention to what had been a neglected type of Indian
bazaar art. (W. G. Archer, p. 5)
| . when he returned to India in late 1927, Dey had enough
maturity, conviction and courage to extend practical support
to a struggling Jamini Roy in sponsoring the first ever exhibition
of his original neo-folk paintings. |
Thus, when he returned to India in late 1927, Dey had enough maturity,
conviction and courage to extend practical support to a struggling
Jamini Roy in sponsoring the first ever exhibition of his original
neo-folk paintings. If Roy was courageous to discard his earlier European
influences and adopt a neo-patua style (c. 1921), then Dey,
only about a year in his office as principal, Government School of
Art, Calcutta, was equally courageous to sponsor and hold the exhibition
at the very stronghold of British academic art in India; especially
when the atmosphere of the School was tense due to the prolonged absence
"on leave" of Jamini Prakash Gangooly, the Vice-Principal
and a well-known exponent of western academic art.
| In the foreword to the 1929 Jamini Roy exhibition catalogue
Dey wrote: "The cultivation of fine arts has been a neglected
subject and the artists are not usually given the prominence
they deserve. Mr. Roy's works shown at the present exhibition
is an improvement upon the traditional art of Bengal and open
up a new field of art altogether." . |
In the foreword to the 1929 Jamini Roy exhibition catalogue Dey wrote:
"The cultivation of fine arts has been a neglected subject and
the artists are not usually given the prominence they deserve. Mr.
Roy is an eminent artist in his own line. It must however, be said
to his great credit that he succeeded in developing an indigenous
line of art and preserving an outlook which is typically Bengali,
from a state of decadence. Mr. Roy's works shown at the present exhibition
is an improvement upon the traditional art of Bengal and open up a
new field of art altogether. He has established his place in the rank
of artists as will be evident from the specimens of his works exhibited".
On the other hand, Watson was almost prophetic in his inaugural speech
when he said: "Art in any form cannot progress without encouragement.
The artist must live and he must live by the sale of his work. In
India, as elsewhere, the days when the churches and the princes were
the patrons of art have passed. Encouragement today must come from
a wider circle, I would say to those who have money to spare buy Indian
art with courage. You may obtain some things of little worth; you
may, on the other hand, acquire cheaply something that is destined
to have great value". Here, it seems Watson gave a clear indication
of the bad patches Roy must have been undergoing then.
Though Dey and Irwin have given a faithful account of Roy's material
hardships following his father's death and his preference to "depend
on his painter's profession" rather than taking up the responsibilities
of a country landowner; they are strangely silent about the support
Roy received at this stage from another fellow artist, Dey, and an
Englishman, Watson.
| Watson was almost prophetic in his inaugural speech when
he said: "Art in any form cannot progress without encouragement.
The artist must live and he must live by the sale of his work.
Encouragement today must come from a wider circle, I would say
to those who have money to spare buy Indian art with courage.
|
The question arises: why this silence? Was it due to lack of information
or due to the want of inclination? Apparently, at a later point of
time it was claimed that Roy was a 'discovery' of Gagonendranath Tagore
and the Indian Society of Oriental Art after his exhibition at ISOA
on Sept. 19,1937 (Gagonendranath Centenary Volume, pp. 85-86). Further,
it may not be out of place to mention here that it was Gurusaday Dutta
of the Indian Civil Service who sort of set the stage for Roy's subsequent
1937 ISOA exhibition, when in March 1932 he had exhibited for the
first time in India the folk artists of rural Bengal in the very premises
of Indian Society of Oriental Art. Apart from organising this exhibition,
during its inauguration Dutta had also arranged for a group of Birbhum
patuas to demonstrate their art to the distinguished guests.
Unfortunately, keeping in tune with the tradition of our general academic
lethargy and consequent inertia most of the subsequent scholars and
art historians have taken for granted what Dey, Irwin, and Lalit Kala
Akademi had to say about the Jamini Roy chronology. Apart from them,
it is interesting to note that Prof. B. C. Sanyal, who is possibly
the only living person who might be having first-hand knowledge of
the 1929 exhibition, also got the chronology wrong. He wrote: "I
was away from Calcutta since 1929. On a visit to Calcutta in or about
1938 I met him (Jamini Roy) at the first exhibition of his uncompromisingly
linear forms. Colour was absent. But the supple fullness of his lines
appeared to be the means to an end. By now he was confirmed in his
philosophy and faith in the rediscovery of the roots of Indian art"
(Lalit Kala Akademi, seminar paper).
| . the first ever exhibition of Jamini Roy's paintings with
folk idiom had to wait for seventy-one years to be recorded
and there by highlight the pioneering efforts of Mukul Dey and
Alfred Watson in promoting his art. |
Thus, the first ever exhibition of Jamini Roy's paintings with folk
idiom had to wait for seventy-one years to be recorded and there by
highlight the pioneering efforts of Mukul Dey and Alfred Watson in
promoting his art.
I would like to thank C. B. Gupta of National Museum, New Delhi
and Chhanda Dasgupta of Lalit Kala Akademi, Rabindra Bhavan for helping
me to track and access some of the important references.
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Box
1: Alfred Watson's Speech
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In a few moments I shall declare open the exhibition of the
works of Mr. Jamini Roy. Those who study the various pictures
will be able to trace the development of the mind of an artist
constantly seeking his own mode of expression. His earlier
work done under purely Western influence and consisting largely
of small copies of larger works must be regarded as the exercises
of one learning to use the tools of his craft competently
and never quite at ease with his models. From this phase we
see him gradually breaking away to a style of his own, moulded
by many influences, but ultimately resulting in a treatment
of mass and line which is almost Egyptian in its outlook.
There is a primitive force, perhaps yet not quite sure of
itself, but consciously striving to break into individual
expression.
You must judge for yourselves how far Mr. Roy has been able
to achieve the ends at which he is obviously aiming. His work
will repay study. I see in it as I see in much of the painting
in India today a real endeavour to recover a national art
that shall be free from the sophisticated tradition of other
countries, which have had a continuous art history. The work
of those who are endeavouring to revive Indian art is commonly
not appreciated in its true significance. It is sometimes
assumed that revival means no more than a return to the methods
and traditions of the past. That would be to create a school
of copyists without visions and ideals of their own. From
the point of view of art it would be a wholly worthless endeavour
— a thing of no significance. Art to deserve the name
must be living and expanding. Upon the minds of its exponents
must be beating the illumination of all the ages. Whatever
direction Indian art may take in the future it cannot, if
it is to have value, go wholly back to the past any more than
it can become merely imitative of the Western outlook. It
must have a vision of its own. All Indian art today is in
the stage of experiment. Its exponents are seeking some firm
ground on which they can stand, and they are seeking it by
numerous paths. It is that fact which makes the present period
so intensely interesting to the student of art. Failures there
must be, but any day may emerge the man who is to set Indian
art on the road of high accomplishment.
Let me say one practical word, if I do not detain you too
long. Art in any form cannot progress without encouragement.
The artist must live and he must live by the sale of his work.
In India as elsewhere the days when the churches and the princes
were the patrons of art have passed. Encouragement today must
come from a wider circle. I would say to those who have money
to spare buy Indian art with courage. You may obtain some
things of little worth; you may, on the other hand, acquire
cheaply something that is destined to have great value. What
does it matter whether you make mistakes or not. By encouraging
those who are striving to give in line and colour a fresh
expression to Indian thought you are helping forward a movement
that we all hope is destined to add a fresh lustre to the
country.
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Box
2: Catalogue of Exhibits
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1. Mother Rs 55 2. Offering Rs 65 3. Seeta Rs 60 4. Day
Dream Rs 60 5. Sunset Rs 20 6. Gran'pa Rs 35 7. A Village
Girl Rs 40 8. Forlorn Rs 25 9. Brothers Rs 25 10. Babu Rs
20 11. Winner Morn Rs 20 12. Blessing Rs 35 13. Malini Rs
30 14. Expectation Rs 25 15. Last Hope Rs 25 16. Left Behind
Rs 35 17. Mother's Delight Rs 59 18. School Study, price not
given 19. School Study, price not given 20. School Study,
price not given 21. Radhika Rs 60 22. Caress Rs 35 23. Darling
Rs 35 24. Buddha Rs 30 25. Village Headman Rs 20 26. Phoenix
Rs 20 27. Homesick Rs 25 28. Nursing Decoration Rs 40 29.
Messenger Rs 25 30. A War Memorial Rs 15 31. Susunia Village
Rs 25 32. Whither? Rs 35 33. Shelter Rs 25 34. Reverie Rs
35 35. Gran'ma Rs 35 36. Portrait of an Artist Rs 40 37. A
Sketch Rs 25 38. A Sketch Rs 25 39. Old Street Rs 25 40. After
Rembrandt Rs 75 41. Nearest to Heart Rs 65 42. Maiden Rs 75
43. Grandson Rs 80 44. Sisters Rs 75 45. Wild Flower Rs 75
46. Sati Rs 50 47. Meditation Rs 50 48. Aristrocrat Rs 50
49. Pronam Rs 75 50. Youth Rs 50 51. Buddha and Sujata Rs
75 52. A Bengali Lady, price not mentioned 53. Mother Rs 50
54. A Village Rs 30 55. Elephant Rs 30 56. Wild Flower Rs
50
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