Sunayani Devi ( bn, সুনয়নী দেবী; 18 June 1875 – 23 February 1962) was an Bengali painter born into the aristocratic

Tagore family The Tagore family (also spelled as ''Thakur''), with over three hundred years of history,Deb, Chitra, pp 64–65. has been one of the leading families of Calcutta, India, and is regarded as one of the key influencers during the Bengali Renaiss ...

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

. She was a self taught artist, with no academic training in art. Inspired by her brothers,

Abanindranath Tagore Abanindranath Tagore (Bengali: অবনীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 August 1871 – 5 December 1951) was the principal artist and creator of the "Indian Society of Oriental Art". He was also the first major exponent of Swa ...

Gaganendranath Tagore Gaganendranath Tagore (17 September 1867 – 14 February 1938) was an Bengali painter and cartoonist of the Bengal school. Along with his brother Abanindranath Tagore, he was counted as one of the earliest modern artists in India. Life and car ...

, and Samarendranath Tagore, she started painting only at the age of 30. She was married at the age of 12 to the grandson of Raja Ram Mohan Roy.

Early life

Sunayani Devi was born on 18 June 1875 in the historically influential

in Calcutta to Gunendranath Thakur and Soudamini Devi. She was married at the age of 12 to Rajanimohan Chattopadhyaya. According to the writer, Partha Mitter, she never had formal training in art other than the art and music lessons as feminine accomplishments.

Painting style and themes

Known to be a true primitive of the Bengal Art School, she drew inspiration from the

Pata Pata or PATA may refer to: Places * Pata, Sulu, a Philippine municipality * Pata, Galanta District, a village in Slovakia * Pata, Central African Republic, a village * Pata village (Samoa), a village in Samoa * Pontrilas Army Training Area, a ...

folk painting style which was familiar to the women of the Tagore household, often depicting scenes from Indian epics and mythologies in her works. Some of her notable works are ''Sadhika'', ''Ardhanarisvar'', ''Satir Dehatyag'', ''Milk Maids'' and ''Yashoda and Krishna''. According to Stella Kramrisch, she was the first modern painter in India. Her works were exhibited in 1922 as part of the Bauhaus artists' exhibition in Calcutta. Since the beginning, her works have been original and bold. They resemble the ancient Jain manuscript paintings. She applied wash technique to its fullest and later her works echoed the native imagery like village clay dolls that would be used as ornamentation. Her works are an amalgamation of modernist dialogue of primitive simplicity and a larger national discourse of being rooted in its cultural identity, thus carving her image as a nationalist artist. Critical analyses of her portraits, have led her to be addressed as a naive painter, who used folk themes with allure and sensitivity.

Exhibitions

Among Devi's exhibitions are: * 1908, 10, 12 Exhb., Indian Society of Oriental Art, Calcutta * 1911 United Provinces Exhb. organised by Indian Society of Oriental Art, Allahabad * 1911

Festival of Empire The 1911 Festival of Empire was the biggest single event held at The Crystal Palace in London since its opening. It opened on 12 May and was one of the events to celebrate the coronation of King George V. The original intention had been that Edw ...

, organised by Indian Society of Oriental Art for George V's coronation, Crystal Palace, London * 1924 Travelling exhb. organised by Indian Society of Oriental Art and American Federation of Art, USA * 2004 Manifestations II, organised by Delhi Art Gallery, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai and Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi * 2011 Summer Oasis, organised by Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Kolkata

Museums

Sunayani Devi's paintings are part of the collection of many museums, including: * Indian Museum Kolkata *

National Gallery of Modern Art, Bangalore National Gallery of Modern Art is an art gallery in Bangalore. It was inaugurated in the year 2009. It showcases modern Indian art and houses paintings by Raja Ravi Verma, Jamini Roy, Amrita Sher-Gil, Rabindranath Tagore and a large number of Mo ...

National Gallery of Modern Art National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, New Delhi * National Art Gallery, Chennai * Sri Chitra Art Gallery, Thiruvananthapuram * Jaganmohan Palace, Mysore *

University of Lucknow The University of Lucknow (informally known as Lucknow University, and LU) is a public state university based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Founded in 1920, the University of Lucknow is one of the oldest government owned institutions of higher edu ...

* Rabindra Bharati University Museum, Kolkata *

Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata The Academy of Fine Arts, in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) is one of the oldest fine arts societies in India. History The academy was formally established in 1933 by Lady Ranu Mukherjee. It was initially located in a room loaned by the India ...

References

External links

Profile on Google Arts & Culture

Profile on indianculture.gov.in
{{Authority control Painters from West Bengal Indian women painters Artists from Kolkata Tagore family Bengal Renaissance 20th-century Indian painters Women artists from West Bengal 20th-century Indian women artists 1875 births 1962 deaths Bengali Hindus