Jamini Roy’s 1950 Buddha canvas to be up for auction in Mumbai

KOLKATA: A big canvas that Jamini Roy had created in 1950, which had been in a private collection since then, will be auctioned for the first time in Mumbai on Wednesday. The pre-auction price has been kept at Rs 20 lakh. The surfacing of this painting in the public domain has created a lot of excitement — not only because it is a national treasure that cannot go out of the country but also because the painting is of

Buddha

, a figure

Roy

was not known to paint often.

The canvas is 122cmx71cm, making it one of the larger ones of the

Navratna

artist. It is a tempera on cloth painting and shows Buddha in a meditative state, eyes half closed, on his lotus seat. The style reminds one of Tibetan thangka.

“Roy is not known to have painted too many

Buddhas

. Perhaps the motivation to draw the Buddha was the same as what inspired him to draw a

Christ

,” said art historian R Shivakumar.

AstaGuru will be conducting the auction.


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