Jamini Roy was one of the earliest and most significant modernists of twentieth century Indian art. From 1920 onwards his search for the essence of form led him to experiment with dramatically different visual style. His career spanning over nearly six decades had many significant turning points and his works collectively speak of the nature of his modernism and the prominent role he played in breaking away from the art practices of his time. Trained in the British academic style of painting in the early decades of the twentieth century, Jamini Roy became well-known as a skilful portraitist. He received regular commissions after he graduated from the Government Art School in what is now Kolkata, in 1916.

The first three decades of the twentieth century saw a sea-change in cultural expressions in Bengal. The growing surge of the nationalist movement was prompting all kinds of experiments in literature and the visual arts. The Bengal School, founded by Abanindranath Tagore and Kala Bhavana in Santiniketan under Nandalal Bose rejected European naturalism and the use of oil as a medium and were exploring new ways of representation.

Jamini Roy, too, consciously rejected the style he had mastered during his academic training and from the early 1920s searched for forms that stirred the innermost recesses of his being. He sought inspiration from sources as diverse as East Asian calligraphy, terracotta temple friezes, objects from folk arts and crafts traditions and the like.

What was increasingly apparent from 1920 onwards was that Roy brought a joy and

Probably, it was 1919 or 1920 that Jamini Roy moved away gradually from European naturalism in search of his own idiom. The first suite of paintings that emerged from these early experiments focused primarily on Santal women. In these paintings, he started by discarding the nonessential elements in the landscape keeping only a branch here or a bit of water there. The colour palette was confined to a limited range and was applied as a flat tone. The Mother and Child image is one of the favourite themes of Roy and here he evokes the mother's protective tenderness towards her young son with great sensitivity.

The clear-cut angular lines with which the figure is rendered indicates the increased stylisation that Roy was to adopt in the coming years. This painting won the top prize in the 1935 All Indian Academy of Fine Arts exhibition.

Probably, it was 1919 or 1920 that Jamini Roy moved away gradually from European naturalism in search of his own idiom. The first suite of paintings that emerged from these early experiments focused primarily on Santal women. In these paintings, he started by discarding the nonessential elements in the landscape keeping only a branch here or a bit of water there. The colour palette was confined to a limited range and was applied as a flat tone. The Mother and Child image is one of the favourite themes of Roy and here he evokes the mother's protective tenderness towards her young son with great sensitivity.

The clear-cut angular lines with which the figure is rendered indicates the increased stylisation that Roy was to adopt in the coming years. This painting won the top prize in the 1935 All Indian Academy of Fine Arts exhibition.