Shree Lal Joshi (5 March 1931 – 2 March 2018) was an Indian Chippa caste artist of

phad painting Phad painting or phad (; IAST: ''Phad'', ) is a style religious scroll painting and folk painting, practiced in Rajasthan state of India. This style of painting is traditionally done on a long piece of cloth or canvas, known as '. The narrativ ...

, a form of popular

folk painting Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative. The makers of folk art are typically tra ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

Life

Joshi was born on 5 March 1931 at Shahpura in Bhilwara district in a family widely known as the traditional artists of phad painting for the last few centuries. His father Ramchandra Joshi initiated him into this traditional art at the age of 13. He discovered many new techniques and painted quite original and meaningful compositions. He was also renowned for his fresco-style wall paintings as well as Phad. He received the National Award for his Wall Painting at Crafts Museum, New Delhi. Elephant, horses, lions, and women with pitchers on their heads were the usual motifs of his painting. To begin with his experimentation, he introduced and composed small phad paintings with new themes for this traditional art-form based on the episodes of the Devnarayan Mahagatha, the battle of Haldighati and the ''jauhar'' (self-immolation) of Padmini, the lives of Maharana Pratap, Prithvi Raj Chouhan, Rani Hadi, Padmini, Dhola Maru, Amar Singh Rathore, Buddha, Mahavira and the narratives from the Gitagovindam, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Kumarasambhava. ''Tukra''s (Small pieces) paintings were introduced by him. Apart from the Bhopas, the traditional phad singer-priests, buyers of his works include the art connoisseurs, tourists, private and Government emporia and private art galleries. His works have been also found in the collections of various museums, which include National Museum, Indira Gandhi National Art Museum, National Craft Museum and Sanskriti Museum in New Delhi, Hare Krishna Museum, Kurushetra, Bhartia Lok Kala Mandal, Udaipur,

Jawahar Kala Kendra The Jawahar Kala Kendra (JKK) is a multi arts centre located in the city of Jaipur, India. It was built by Government of Rajasthan with the purpose of preserving Rajasthani arts and crafts. The centre has been made in eight blocks housing museum ...

, Jaipur, Linden Museum, Germany, Leforet Museum, Japan, Albert Museum, London, Landes Museum, Austria, Smith Sonian Museum, Washington, Syracuse University, USA Etenografisca Museum, Stockholm, and also in the museums of Singapore, Germany, Netherlands and France. His sons, Kalyan and Gopal are also notable artists of this art form. Kalyan Joshi's phad paintings are now adorning prime minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

's office walls.

Awards and honours

A long association with

Komal Kothari Komal Kothari was an Indian folk artist and classical singer. Career Kothari's research resulted in his development of the study of a number of areas of folklore. In particular, he made contributions to the study of musical instruments, oral tra ...

Kapila Vatsyayan Kapila Vatsyayan (25 December 1928 – 16 September 2020) was a leading scholar of Indian classical dance, art, architecture, and art history. She served as a member of parliament and bureaucrat in India, and also served as the founding direct ...

and

Jyotindra Jain Jyotindra Jain (born 5 June 1943) is an Indian art and cultural historian, and museologist. A scholar on folk and ritual arts of India, he was the Director of the National Crafts Museum, New Delhi, Member Secretary and Professor (Cultural Archiv ...

inspired Joshi to experiment and innovate. He earned many international and national awards. He received the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

award in 2006 and the Shilpaguru award (2007). The Government of India issued a Rs. 5/- postal stamp on his famous creation- ''Phad of Shri Devnarayan''.

International Awards

*SAARC International Award, Islamabad *Black Magician Award, German Festival, Stuttgart

National Awards

*National Merit Award, New Delhi, 1969,'72,'74 *National Award, 1984 *Silver Award, Bhartiya Lok Kala Mandal, 1979 *Kala Shree Award, Haryana Government, 1989 *Bhuwalka Public Welfare Award, Marudhara Institute, Calcutta, 1994 *

Award, New Delhi, 2006 *Sangeet Shyamla Award, Kolkata, 2007 *Shilpaguru Award, 2007

Documentaries on his works

*"The Folklore" by Mani Kaul *"Phad Painting & Shri Lal Joshi" by Lalit Kala Academy *"Painted Epics of Rajasthan" by Door Darshan *"Twenty four Bagrwat Bros. & Lord Dev narayan" by J.C. Miller *"Phad Paintings of Rajasthan" by BBC.

References