By Madhusree Chatterjee, IANS
New Delhi : He is one of the biggest and the most enduring names in the genre of Indian modern art. Often dubbed the father of female figurative forms, Suhas Roy says he still draws inspiration from beautiful women at the age of 71.
“It is basic instinct, age has nothing to do with sensuality,” Roy told IANS in an interview.
Consequently, his recent body of works, “Drops of Silence”, executed in oil, pastels and pen-and-ink etchings on backdrops in watercolours, are all studies of “sad, slightly surreal nude women floating in a void”.
Roy, who was born in Bangladesh, which he likes to call “undivided Bengal”, is still the “little village lad at heart”.
“Even now I am influenced by snapshots of common man and life in the countryside,” said the artist who is considered to be in league with heavyweights like Maqbool Fida Husain and Manjit Bawa.
Roy’s forte is Radhika – dark, enigmatic, beautiful Indian women who do not smile and are slightly “ethereal”. But ask the diminutive man with a childlike demeanour and a penchant for a “peg of whisky” where Krishna is and his shakes his silver head with laughter.
“I don’t draw Krishna. There is a myth in the Puranas (ancient Indian scriptures) that Radha was born out of Krishna, according to the concept of ‘ardhanarishwar’ (the male and the female energy in one form). So, I have settled for the beautiful Radhika.”
“I have painted several series of female figures for the past 10 years,” says Roy. But he is yet to tire of “beautiful belles with large demure eyes and curly tresses”.
“I intend to paint women forever. For me, a woman is a symbol of beauty and anything which is beautiful and sensuous appeals to me,” he said.
The artist’s obsession with women and “contemporary reality” dates back to his pre-Independence years in Bangladesh.
“I was a gypsy of sorts, the typical village elf who haunted the nooks and crannies, angling in the numerous ponds that dotted my hometown. I was in close commune with nature,” Roy said.
After moving to West Bengal post partition, Roy first took to painting landscapes and then figures.
“After completing my basic course at the Indian Art College and a two-year training at the Atelier of William Hayter and then at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts in France, I took up a teaching job at the Indian Art College, a post vacated by sculptor Somanth Hore, my teacher. I taught graphics and even became the principal,” said Roy.
But his efforts to change things at his “rather disorganised” alma mater in Kolkata did not yield results. A disillusioned Roy left for Kala Bhavan in Shantiniketan in 1974.
Roy’s first love is landscapes, which he painted avidly during his years in Kolkata.
“They are displayed all over the world – in Japan, New York, Australia and even in the personal collection of the country’s ruling Nehru-Gandhi family. The painting owned by the family is called the ‘Virgin Forest’. It was purchased by late Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, a month before her death in 1984,” said Roy.
Gradually, he grew tired of landscapes and switched to “female figures”.
“I was building a home in Santiniketan and a lot of these local Santhali (tribal) women used to work as construction labourers. I loved watching them. They were dark, beautiful and sensual. One day, I drew one of them and showed it to fellow artists at a local art camp. They named it ‘Taru’. Inspired, I started preparing for an exhibition on ‘Krishna’ in 1978-79, but ended up painting ‘tribal’ Radha instead.”
Roy is one of the few of the avant-garde old-timers who believe that art is an investment.
“Artists can survive on art alone these days and collectors who invest in art are only preserving it for posterity,” he said.
The septuagenarian artist says experience and conviction keep him ticking.
“I have seen almost everything. But the conviction that life springs forth even after devastation and everything pretty – the grass, the rose and the woman – is timeless keeps me going,” Roy said.