Untitled

Jamini Roy remains one of the most easily recognised artists of the country because of his distinctive signature style. This style is historical as it epitomised the restlessness among Roy’s generation of Indian artists, to break free of their European academic training and its overwhelming influence, to create a truly Indian syntax for modern art. Roy turned to folk artists of Bengal, including the Kalighat patuas, to develop a stylisation and a narrative that captured the earthiness of the characters in his art. In this work, he captures two cats—playful yet growling—fighting for a lobster that they both want to claim