Indian sculptor and painter (1899?1975)
Devi Prasad Roy Choudhury
MBE
(15 June 1899 ? 15 October 1975) was an Indian sculptor, painter and educator. He is well known for his monumental
bronze sculptures
, especially the
Triumph of Labour
and the
Martyrs' Memorial
, and is rated by many as one among the major artists of Indian modern art.
[1]
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
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.
[2]
[3]
He served as the principal of
Madras School of Art
from 1929 to 1957 and became one of the first Indians to head a government educational institution at the time.
[4]
The
Government of India
awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the
Padma Bhushan
, in 1958, for his contributions in the field of arts.
[5]
He was elected as the
Fellow of Lalit Kala Akademi
in 1962.
[6]
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Roy Choudhury was born on 15 June 1899 at Tejhat, in
Rangpur
in the undivided Bengal of the
British India
(presently in
Bangladesh
), and did his academic studies from home.
[7]
He took his first painting lessons under the guidance of
Abanindranath Tagore
, the renowned Bengali painter.
[8]
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.
[2]
Career
[
edit
]
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
and taught art at a boys' school in the city. He also taught for some time at
Santiniketan
where
Ramkinkar Baij
was one of his students.
[4]
Madras School of Art
[
edit
]
Roy Choudhury joined the Madras School of Art in 1929 as a
superintendent
. 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.
[9]
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.
[4]
Subsequently, he was honoured by the British Government as an
MBE
in 1937 for his service.
[10]
Artistic output
[
edit
]
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?
[2]
When
Lalit Kala Akademi
was founded in 1954, he was appointed as the founder chairman.
[11]
He also served as president of the
UNESCO
Art Seminar conducted in 1955 at Tokyo and the
Nikhil Bharat Bangiya Sahitya Sammilani
of 1956 organized in Chennai.
[7]
Along with his art, he was well known for his
Bengali
short stories published in the Bengali magazines of the time.
[12]
Works
[
edit
]
Paintings
[
edit
]
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.
[4]
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.
[9]
Painting by D. P. Roy Choudhury titled
Poorna Kumbham
published on the cover page of
Swatantra
Annual in 1951
Roy Choudhury experimented with different mediums such as
tempera
,
oil
,
watercolor
and
pastels
. In the 1930s, western art critics regarded him as one of the finest portrait painters in the world for his works in the oil medium.
[13]
Some of the notable paintings the he created in Chennai are
Green and Gold
(exhibited at the
Royal Academy of Arts, London
),
After the Storm
(Japanese wash technique),
Nirvana
,
Bridge
,
The Palace Doll
,
Durga Puja Procession
,
Abhisarika
, and
Pujarini
.
[2]
Sculptures
[
edit
]
Even though Roy Choudhury was a skilled painter, he is widely known for his public sculptures in the
impressionistic
style.
[14]
His specialization was in casting the sculpture rather than carving it. He is reported to be influenced by the works of the French sculptor,
Auguste Rodin
.
[15]
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
(Governor of Madras),
C. P. Ramaswami Iyer
,
C. R. Reddy
and
C. Abdul Hakim
to name a few. Portraits created from photographs included
Annie Besant
,
Asutosh Mukherjee
,
Surendranath Banerjee
,
Mahatma Gandhi
and
Motilal Nehru
which were considered Roy Choudhury's monumental works.
[2]
Roy Choudhury with his sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi
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
. 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.
[9]
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.
[8]
Triumph of Labour
[
edit
]
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.
Triumph of Labour
by D. P. Roy Choudhury in Chennai
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
building in New Delhi.
[16]
Martyrs' Memorial
[
edit
]
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.
Martyrs' Memorial
by D. P. Roy Choudhury in Patna
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
in October 1956.
[16]
Gyarah Murti
[
edit
]
Gyarah Murti
by D. P. Roy Choudhury in Delhi
A monumental sculpture titled
Gyarah Murti
, based on
Dandi March
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
. 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.
[17]
Some of his other important public sculptures include the statue of
Mahatma Gandhi
at Marina beach in Chennai,
[18]
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.
[19]
Public collections
[
edit
]
His works are displayed at
Government Museum, Chennai
, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi,
Srichitralayam
at
Jaganmohan Palace
,
Salar Jung Museum
, Hyderabad and Travancore Art Gallery,
Kerala
[1]
and are featured in many books,
Indian Masters, Volume I
,
[20]
The Two Great Indian Artists
[21]
and
Art and Aesthetics of Deviprasad
being some of them.
[22]
Awards and recognition
[
edit
]
In 1958, the Government of India awarded him the
Padma Bhushan
, the third highest Indian civilian honour.
[5]
He received the
Lalit Kala Akademi
Fellowship in 1962 and, six years later,
Rabindra Bharati University
, Kolkata, honoured him with
D.Litt.
in 1968.
[7]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Roy Choudhury was a wealthy man owing to his success as an artist and reputation among the people of high society.
[13]
However, he largely remained
Bohemian
at heart and often said, “I can never be all manners and no man even to please my wife.” Roy Choudhury had married Charulata and had one son, Bhaskar ? a folk dancer, actor, choreographer, author and painter.
[23]
Even though the couple was fond of each other, they had contrasting personalities. At times, Roy Choudhury's unconventional behaviour embarrassed Charulata who was a sophisticated woman and preferred a formal conduct.
[24]
Madras residence
[
edit
]
Roy Choudhury and his family lived in a two-storey house with the drawing room and the bedrooms located on the first floor. The former room was huge with a highly polished red floor. A few
Persian scatter rugs
were spread on the floor and a couple of stuffed tiger heads shot by him lied there. On the off-white walls some of his popular paintings hung at eye-level. In one corner of the room stood one of his finest portrait sculptures titled
Babuji
? a head study of his father. A low
chowki
covered with an attractive red and blue
Bokhara
was kept under a window along the north wall of the room. On it rested a pair of
tablas
, a
tanpura
and a
harmonium
. Roy Choudhury was an admirer of
Hindustani classical music
. Even though he wasn’t formally trained in music, his perception towards it had enabled him to enjoy even the most complex subtleties of the
ragas
.
[24]
Wrestling
[
edit
]
Roy Choudhury knew a fair bit about wrestling as he had learnt it from a wrestler when he was young. On the request of his students at the Madras School of Art, he agreed to teach them wrestling. An
akhada
(wrestling pit) was dug under the neem tree behind his studio at the school and he took care of all the expenses. Being a formidable wrestler, the students under his tutelage became more disciplined, learned some of the intricate details of the sport and its effectiveness toward achieving physical fitness.
[25]
Death and legacy
[
edit
]
Roy Choudhury died on 15 October 1975 in Madras at the age of seventy-six.
[26]
[27]
He had his first solo exhibition in
Kolkata
in 1993 which was followed by several exhibitions in India, including Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata;
Jehangir Art Gallery
, Mumbai; National Gallery of Modern Art, Delhi and Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, among others.
[28]
Martyrs' Memorial
on the 1967 postal stamp of India
His sculpture, the
Triumph of Labour
featured on an
Indian postage stamp
to celebrate the 40th anniversary of
International Labour Organization
in 1959.
[29]
The
Martyrs’ Memorial
also appeared on the Indian postal stamp to commemorate the
silver jubilee
of Quit India Movement in 1967.
[30]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Tribute to the King"
.
The Hindu
. 29 January 2016
. Retrieved
3 March
2016
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Biswas, Kali (1973). Appasamy, Jaya; Krishnan, S. A. (eds.).
Devi Prosad Roy Chowdhury
. New Delhi:
Lalit Kala Akademi
.
- ^
"Osian's Auction Catalogue Creative India Series 1 Bengal | December 2011"
.
assets.osianama.com
. Retrieved
15 June
2022
.
- ^
a
b
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d
Mitter, Partha (2007).
The triumph of modernism : India's artists and the avant-garde, 1922-1947
. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
ISBN
978-0-19-569336-2
.
OCLC
231745770
.
- ^
a
b
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(PDF)
. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2016. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 15 October 2015
. Retrieved
3 January
2016
.
- ^
"Lalit Kala Akademi Fellows"
.
Lalit Kala Akademi
. 15 June 2009. Archived from
the original
on 15 June 2009
. Retrieved
8 May
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Artist Profile"
. Goa Art Gallery. 2016
. Retrieved
3 March
2016
.
- ^
a
b
Blurton, T. Richard; Prasad, Sunand; Kapur, Geeta; Smith, Walter; Crill, Rosemary; Parimoo, Ratan; Vernoit, S. J.; Ehnbom, Daniel; Joshi, M. C. (2003),
"India, Republic of"
,
Oxford Art Online
, Oxford University Press,
doi
:
10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.t040067
,
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, retrieved
15 June
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- ^
a
b
c
Joshi, Jyotish (2013).
?????? ??? ?? ?????????
[
Signatures of Modern Indian Art
] (in Hindi) (2nd ed.). New Delhi:
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. pp. 69?74.
ISBN
978-8123016825
.
- ^
"No. 34396"
.
The London Gazette
(Supplement). 11 May 1937. p. 3098.
- ^
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Encyclopaedia of Indian Events & Dates
. Sterling Publishers. pp. 222 of 613.
ISBN
9788120740747
.
- ^
Panicker, K. C. S. (21 December 1975).
"Devi Prasad Roy Chowdhury"
.
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.
40
(51): 2383.
- ^
a
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Mukherjee, Sushil (16 October 2009).
"Bihar to Madras to learn art"
.
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. Vol. 19, no. 13
. Retrieved
19 March
2023
.
- ^
K. C. S., Panicker (21 December 1975).
"Devi Prasad Roy Chowdhury"
.
Akashvani
.
40
(51): 2393.
- ^
"Virtual Galleries ? Modern Sculptures"
. National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi. 2016
. Retrieved
3 March
2016
.
- ^
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"Public Art: Sculptures by Deviprasad Roy Chowdhury capture key moments in Indian History"
.
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. 17 June 2021
. Retrieved
15 June
2022
.
- ^
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. Trek Earth. 2016
. Retrieved
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.
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"A stroll could be a learning experience too"
.
The Hindu
. 30 October 2011
. Retrieved
3 March
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.
- ^
"When winter comes"
. Chennai Museum. 2016
. Retrieved
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2016
.
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Indian Masters, Volume I
. Lakshmibilas Press, Calcutta. p. 76.
ASIN
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.
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. Archived from
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- ^
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Ainy (12 May 2015).
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istampgallery.com
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.
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