D. P. Roy Choudhury
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Devi Prasad Roy Choudhury
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(15 June 1899 – 15 October 1975) was an Indian sculptor, painter and educator. He is well known for his monumental
bronze sculptures Bronze is the most popular metal for cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as well as bronze elemen ...
, especially the ''
Triumph of Labour The Triumph of Labour, also known as the Labour statue, is a statue at the Marina Beach, Chennai, India. Erected at the northern end of the beach at the Anna Square opposite University of Madras, it is an important landmark of Chennai. The st ...
'' and the ''Martyrs' Memorial'', and is rated by many as one among the major artists of Indian modern art. He worked in a broad spectrum of mediums including watercolors, expressionist landscapes and commissioned portraits. Large scale sculptures were his particular strength and he made
social realism Social realism is the term used for work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers and filmmakers that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structure ...
the cornerstone of his art. In addition to painting and sculpting, he also wrestled, played the flute, engaged in hunting and wrote short stories in his spare time. He served as the principal of
Madras School of Art The Government College of Fine Arts (initially known as the Madras School of Art) in Chennai is the oldest art institution in India. The institution was established in 1850 by surgeon Alexander Hunter as a private art school. In 1852, after be ...
from 1929 to 1957 and became one of the first Indians to head a government educational institution at the time. The
Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...
awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the
Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...
, in 1958, for his contributions in the field of arts. He was elected as the Fellow of Lalit Kala Akademi in 1962.


Early life and education

Roy Choudhury was born on 15 June 1899 at Tejhat, in Rangpur in the undivided Bengal of the
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
(presently in
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
), and did his academic studies from home. He took his first painting lessons under the guidance of
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 Sw ...
, the renowned Bengali painter. He also received lessons about life-drawing and portraiture in western style from an Italian painter named Boeiss. This was followed by sculpture training under the guidance of Hiranmoy Roy Choudhury, who taught him to ''build in'' rather than ''carve in'' his figures.


Career

Roy Choudhury’s interest of getting into art caused a rift between him and his ''zamindar'' grandfather, the head of the family, who disinherited him. Subsequently, he had to take up work as a scene painter for a theatre in North
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
and taught art at a boys' school in the city. He also taught for some time at
Santiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...
where
Ramkinkar Baij Ramkinkar Baij ( bn, রামকিঙ্কর বেইজ) (25 May 1906 – 2 August 1980) was an Indian sculptor and painter, one of the pioneers of modern Indian sculpture and a key figure of Contextual Modernism. Early life and ...
was one of his students.


Madras School of Art

Roy Choudhury joined the Madras School of Art in 1929 as a
superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...
. He thus became one of the first Indians to head a educational institution that was run by the British. He accepted the post on the understanding that he should be permitted to take up private assignments. During his thirty years at the school, he inspired several artists form South India. He helped spark creativity among the students who had produced only conventional work until that time. This entirely changed the existing image of the school as an industrial arts centre. Subsequently, he was honoured by the British Government as an
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in 1937 for his service.


Artistic output

Despite being in charge of the school for almost three decades, Roy Choudhury was quite productive as an artist. He maintained two studios, one at his residence and the other at the school. He worked from early morning till late in the evening, mostly on large-scale sculptures. However, he did not hold any exhibition of his works during his lifetime, as he believed:
I consider my modest studio as a sort of old, sacred temple devoted to the cause of art. I worship the objects I create. I can never think of them being carried now and then for public view. Those who are real lovers of art are welcome to my studio. Don’t the devotees pay a visit to the dilapidated temple in a village?
When
Lalit Kala Akademi The Lalit Kala Akademi or National Academy of Art (LKA) is India's national academy of fine arts. It is an autonomous organisation, established in New Delhi in 1954 by Government of India to promote and propagate understanding of Indian art, in ...
was founded in 1954, he was appointed as the founder chairman. He also served as president of the
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
Art Seminar conducted in 1955 at Tokyo and the ''Nikhil Bharat Bangiya Sahitya Sammilani'' of 1956 organized in Chennai.


Works


Paintings

When Roy Choudhury studied under the guidance of Tagore, he mainly created paintings in his master’s style and technique. Flowing lines in the ''wash'' technique with flat tones can be seen in his early works. The subjects in his works were mostly based on mythological themes. After his exposure to the western art techniques, he created artworks in the western academic style. In the later part of his life, Choudhury was drawn towards the common man. He interacted with people of the poorer class and began drawing from life rather than from models. Moreover, he had also created a number of genre and landscape paintings. His other works include animal studies from his experiences during his hunting expeditions. Roy Choudhury experimented with different mediums such as
tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...
,
oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
,
watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...
and
pastels A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those use ...
. Some of the notable paintings the he created in Chennai are ''Green and Gold'' (exhibited at the
Royal Academy of Arts, London The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...
), ''After the Storm'' (Japanese wash technique), ''Nirvana'', ''Bridge'', ''The Palace Doll'', ''Durga Puja Procession'', ''Abhisarika'', and ''Pujarini''.


Sculptures

Even though Roy Choudhury was a skilled painter, he is widely known for his magnificent public sculptures. His specialized in casting the sculpture rather than carving it. He reported to be influenced by the works of the French sculptor, Auguste Rodin. During his early days in Kolkata, he made the busts of Sir J. C. Bose, Percy Brown and Mrs. Brown. While in Chennai, his high professional standards constantly brought him number of private and public commissions, notably the portrait busts of British nobility of the time. Among those who sat for their portraits or monumental statues were – C. V. Kumaraswami Sastri (Chief Justice, Madras High Court), Lord Erskine (Governor of Madras), G. T. Boag (Governor of Orissa),
George Stanley Colonel George Francis Gillman Stanley (July 6, 1907September 13, 2002) was a Canadian historian, author, soldier, teacher, public servant, and designer of the Canadian flag. Early life and education George F.G. Stanley was born in Calgary, Alb ...
(Governor of Madras),
C. P. Ramaswami Iyer Sir Chetput Pattabhiraman Ramaswami Iyer (12 November 1879 – 26 September 1966), popularly known as Sir C. P., was an Indian lawyer, administrator and politician who served as the Advocate-General of Madras Presidency from 1920 to 1923, Law m ...
, C. R. Reddy and C. Abdul Hakim to name a few. Portraits created from photographs included - Annie Besant,
Asutosh Mukherjee Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee (anglicised, originally Asutosh Mukhopadhyay, also anglicised to Asutosh Mookerjee) (29 June 1864 – 25 May 1924) was a prolific Bengali educator, jurist, barrister and mathematician. He was the first student to be awar ...
,
Surendranath Banerjee Sir Surendranath Banerjee often known as Rashtraguru ( bn, Rāṣṭraguru, Teacher of the Nation; 10 November 18486 August 1925) was Indian nationalist leader during the British Rule. He founded a nationalist organization called the Indian Nat ...
,
Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
and
Motilal Nehru Motilal Nehru (6 May 1861 – 6 February 1931) was an Indian lawyer, activist and politician belonging to the Indian National Congress. He also served as the Congress President twice, 1919–1920 and 1928–1929. He was a patriarch of the Neh ...
which were considered Roy Choudhury's monumental works. In his later sculptures, Roy Choudhury sought inspiration from his surroundings and social milieu, just like his paintings. One of his first multiple-figure reliefs was the ''Travancore Temple Entry'' ''Proclamation'' that he completed in the 1930s. It depicted the Temple Entry Proclamation that allowed the admission of the so-called ''low caste people'' into the Hindu temples in
Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...
. He also produced some moving images of the Bengal famine of 1943, which showed a mother with her starving infant. Post India's independence in 1947, his grand sculptures and social commitment played an important role to memorialize the country's anti-colonial struggle. His compositions, the ''Triumph of Labour'' (1954) and the ''Martyrs’ Memorial'' (1956) continue to be outstanding examples of his depictions of social realism in this regard.


''Triumph of Labour''

On 1 May 1923, Malayapuram Singaravelu founded the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan in Madras which was committed to protect the interests and rights of the working classes. The foundation ceremony was held on the May Day for a purpose as it was for the first time in India that the day was observed as International Workers' Day under the auspices of the newly formed party. Roy Choudhury’s sculpture is located at the Marina Beach, close to the site where Singaravelu organized the first Labour Day celebrations. It shows four figures engrossed in moving a heavy boulder, who appear to succeed in their task, thus signifying the ''Triumph of Labour''. The sculpture highlights the intense hard work and effort put in by workers to shape India as it is today. A similar sculpture is also located outside the
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, c ...
building in New Delhi.


''Martyrs' Memorial''

Located outside the Patna Secretariat, the ''Martyrs’ Memorial'' stands tall as the symbolic representation of the sacrifice that the Indians made to achieve independence. It is a life-sized statue of seven young men who sacrificed their lives in the Quit India Movement to hoist the national flag on the Secretariat building. Roy Choudhury showcases the determined attitude and the spontaneity of movement of each defiant figure which emphasizes the strength of the entire composition. This sculpture was commissioned after India’s Independence and was unveiled by
Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, Indian independence activist, journalist & scholar who served as the first president of Republic of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian Nationa ...
in October 1956.


''Gyarah Murti''

A monumental sculpture titled ''Gyarah Murti'', based on
Dandi March The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a di ...
has been erected along the road at the junction of Sardar Patel Marg and Teen Murti Marg in Delhi. The task of creating this sculpture was entrusted to Roy Choudhury by the then Prime Minister,
Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...
. This sculpture is 29 meters long on the surface and 4 meters high, made of a combination of 11 figures. It was installed in 1982 after the death of Devi Prasad Roy Choudhury. The image of this sculpture was also printed on the Indian currency note of 500 rupees. Some of his other important public sculptures include the statue of
Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
at Marina beach in Chennai, ''God of Destruction'' (plaster of paris), ''Rhythm'', ''After the Bath'', ''The Last Stroke'', ''Victims of Hunger'' (1952) and ''When Winter Comes'' (1955), all made in bronze.


Public collections

His works are displayed at
Government Museum, Chennai The Government Museum, Chennai, or the Madras Museum, is a museum of human history and culture located in the Government Museum Complex in the neighbourhood of Egmore in Chennai, India. Started in 1851, it is the second oldest museum in India af ...
, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, ''Srichitralayam'' at Jaganmohan Palace,
Salar Jung Museum The Salar Jung Museum is an art museum located at Dar-ul-Shifa, on the southern bank of the Musi River, India, Musi River in the city of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It is one of the List of museums in India, notable National Museums of India. ...
, Hyderabad and Travancore Art Gallery,
Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
and are featured in many books, ''Indian Masters, Volume I'', ''The Two Great Indian Artists'' and ''Art and Aesthetics of Deviprasad'' being some of them.


Awards and recognition

In 1958, the Government of India awarded him the
Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...
, the third highest Indian civilian honour. He received the
Lalit Kala Akademi The Lalit Kala Akademi or National Academy of Art (LKA) is India's national academy of fine arts. It is an autonomous organisation, established in New Delhi in 1954 by Government of India to promote and propagate understanding of Indian art, in ...
Fellowship in 1962 and, six years later,
Rabindra Bharati University Rabindra Bharati University is a public research university in Kolkata, India. It was founded on May 8, 1962, under the Rabindra Bharati Act of the Government of West Bengal in 1961, to mark the birth centenary of the poet Rabindranath Tagore. ...
, Kolkata, honoured him with
D.Litt. Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...
in 1968.


Personal life

Roy Choudhury married Charulata and had one son, Bhaskar. He was a folk dancer, actor, choreographer, author and painter.


Death and legacy

Roy Choudhury died on 15 October 1975 in Madras at the age of seventy-six. He had his first solo exhibition in
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
in 1993 after which had several exhibitions in India, including Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata,
Jehangir Art Gallery Jehangir Art Gallery is an art gallery in Mumbai (India). It was founded by Sir Cowasji Jehangir at the urging of K. K. Hebbar and Homi Bhabha. It was built in 1952. Managed by the Committee of Management, the entire cost of this mansion was ...
, Mumbai, National Gallery of Modern Art, Delhi and Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, among others. His sculpture, the ''Triumph of Labour'' featured on an Indian postage stamp to celebrate the 40th anniversary of
International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...
in 1959. The ''Martyrs’ Memorial'' also appeared on the Indian postal stamp to commemorate the silver jubilee of Quit India Movement in 1967.


See also

* List of Lalit Kala Akademi fellows *
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 Sw ...
*
Bengal School of Art The Bengal School of Art, commonly referred as Bengal School, was an art movement and a style of Indian painting that originated in Bengal, primarily Kolkata and Shantiniketan, and flourished throughout the Indian subcontinent, during the Britis ...
* Martyrs' Memorial Patna


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Choudhury, D. P. Roy Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts 1899 births 1975 deaths People from Rangpur District Bengali male artists Indian male sculptors Indian male painters Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai alumni Members of the Order of the British Empire Indian art educators 20th-century Indian sculptors 20th-century Indian painters 20th-century Indian educators Fellows of the Lalit Kala Akademi 20th-century Indian male artists