The exhibition, which concluded on Wednesday, was held at Kolkata’s Middleton Art Gallery by an art collector, Kamal Parekh.
Born in 1887 in Bengal’s Bankura district, Roy, one of India’s earliest modernists, was awarded the Viceroy’s Gold Medal in 1935, the Padma Bhushan in 1955, and elected a fellow of the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1956.
A group of artists held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the issue and resolved that they would petition the Centre to initiate appropriate action.
“These artworks (displayed at the exhibition) are against the character of Jamini Roy’s patterns. We had not seen such a type of work. Because of this, we are demanding that the Archaeological Survey of India examine these pictures and find out whether they are the original works of Jamini Roy,” said artist Pranab Ranjan Roy.
An exhibition of Jamini Roy’s paintings in Kolkata has run into a controversy after a section of artists claimed that the artworks displayed at the exhibition were not original works.
While a complaint has been filed at Park Street Police Station, the group of artists has demanded an examination of the displayed artworks by the Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI), which had declared all Jamini Roy’s works a “national treasure” in 1976.
Another artist Hiran Mitra said, “After seeing these artworks, we think that these are all synthetic works. Let the Archeological Survey of India check these pictures.”
Parekh, who organised the exhibition, denied the charges and said that he collected the artworks of Jamini Roy from various places. “I have collected two paintings by Jamini Roy from the Grand Hotel exhibition in 1993. I have the authentication and affidavit of each photo. No picture is fake. I will not sell these pictures. They are kept for exhibition only. I have 80 to 90 paintings by Jamini Roy… Some of the artists may be angry and therefore have said it,” Parekh said.
But the group of artists said there was no record of any such exhibition being held in 1993 at Kolkata’s Grand Hotel.
(This story has not been edited by News Mania staff and is published from a Media Release)
