Untitled (Madonna and Child)

One of India’s most beloved artists, Jamini Roy is remembered for forging a unique Indian aesthetic for modern art by bringing together elements of traditional Bengali folk art and Kalighat patachitras, rendered in clean lines and earthy colours. This mother-child duo is based on a composition of a twelfth-century Byzantine icon depicting the Virgin and Child Jesus in a tender embrace. Jamini Roy absorbed and translated the Byzantine form in indigenous terms with the local and earthy features of the mother conspicuously familiar and relatable. The sweeping brushstrokes and tonal arrangements imbibe volume, mass, and a sculptural quality, making it stand apart in the artist’s well-known repertoire of works.