THE INDIAN MATISSE JAMINI ROY
A EUROPEAN PREVIEW AT THE MUSEUM OF CULTURES OF LUGANO

THE EVENT AND THE KUMAR COLLECTION

An European preview. On the 13th of  June 2015, The Museum of Cultures in Lugano (MCL) inaugurates the exhibition, “Jamini Roy. From Tradition to Modernity. The Kumar Collection”.

Scheduled to run until the 23rd of August, the exhibition is dedicated to the Bengali artist Jamini Roy, a recipient of the Padma Bhushan State Award from the Government of India in 1955, and regarded by international critics as the Indian “Matisse” for his works inspired by both traditional Indian art and the western avant-garde. The source of the exhibited works is the Kumar Collection which encompasses the artist's entire body of work, from his earliest sketches in the nineteen twenties to the final canvasses at the end of the nineteen sixties. The collection, considered to be the largest outside India, is for the first time the object of a curated art catalogue. The collection is owned by Indian entrepreneur, marketing professor and collector, Nirmalya Kumar, who has been studying Jamini Roy for over a decade. He has bought these works and exhibited them to the public with the intent of safeguarding the distinctive features of an ancient tradition while contributing to the promotion of Indian contemporary art to both the experts and the international public.

Jamini Roy, Gatto col cucciolo, 1955 ca, pittura su tavola, 39,5×41 cm. Collezione Kumar.
Inv. 1036/JR20 © 2015 Museo delle Culture, Lugano.

THE FUTURE OF THE MUSEUM AND PRIVATE COLLECTORS

With the “Jamini Roy. From Tradition to Modernity. The Kumar Collection” exhibition, the Museum of Cultures in Lugano reinforces its vocation as a centre that produces and endorses private collections of international significance through original exhibition initiatives so that they can be held at other museums. The Museum of Cultures in Lugano has become a point reference for major collectors who increasingly choose to have the masterpieces in their collections cataloged, critically appraised and launched for the first time into the world for previewing. The exhibition in Lugano, therefore, is the first stop on a tour that will include Turin, Paris, Venice, Zurich and Copenhagen. Director, Francesco Paolo Campione, has this to say about the future of the museum and its relationship with collectors: “ this exhibition dedicated to Jamini Roy is an important step in the path we have set out on: while being a cultural institution conceived along traditional lines, our museum is increasingly distinguishing itself as a centre for the creation of exhibition projects that are subsequently hosted at major international museums. Our relationship with collectors is strategic to this evolution, and is based on the creation of value for the museum as well as for its private partners.”

Jamini Roy, L’ultima cena, metà anni cinquanta, tempera su cartoncino, 25.8 ×74.5 cm. Collezione Kumar.
Inv. 1003/JR45 © 2015 Museo delle Culture, Lugano.

THE PROJECT AND THE EXHIBITION

Curated by Caterina Corni with the support of  Alessia Borellini, as part of “OrientArt” which sets out to show the relationship between contemporary Asian art and the ideological and cultural context in which it moves, the exhibition was conceived, planned and developed by the Museum of Cultures with the collaboration of various other scientific institutions and co-produced by Silvana Editoriale. The exhibition comprises seventy masterpieces (oil on canvas, tempera on paper, gouache on paper and linen) produced by the artist during the course of his career and accompanied by around 30 sculptures in wood from the XVII-XIX century depicting the protagonists of Hindu mythology and folklore, which have been sourced from the museum's own estate and other institutions. The exhibition itinerary is enriched by a selection of photographs from “India Minor”, the renowned photographic report in 1939 by Walter Bosshard (1892-1975), the photographer to whom we owe the invention and propagation of the “icon”, Mahatma Ghandi.

Jamini Roy, Danzatrice, dopo 1920 ca, Tempera su tessuto, 77,5×57,2 cm.
Collezione Kumar. Inv. 1019/JR02© 2015 Museo delle Culture, Lugano.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Jamini Roy was born on the 15th of April 1887, in Beliatore, a village in Bengal, 180 km from Calcutta. His destiny as an artist was sealed by his enrollment, at only 16 years of age, at the Government College of Art and Craft of Calcutta,  under the guidance of the enlightened English art historian Binfield Havell (1861-1934) and Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951). The latter was a distinguished figure in the birth and development of the movement known as the Bengal School; a current uniting a profound awareness of the value of Indian culture with the artistic language of western art. In a climate of great creative ferment, Jamini Roy thus set out on a training path that would evolve into his own artistic form and distinctive style, leading him to become world famous and one of the most renowned and acclaimed artists in India. His early works, imbued as they are with the European avant-garde, interact in an ideological sense with the differences in artistic languages of ancient Indian art. They show a continuous evolution in terms of technique, distinguished by simplicity, essential lines and the use of materials and supporting structures that are more and more in harmony with nature. Jamini Roy died in Calcutta on 14th April 1972 at the age of 85.

Jamini Roy, Musicisti Santals, 1950 ca, tempera su carta, 48×57,5 cm. Collezione Kumar. Inv. 1031/JR15
© 2015 Museo delle Culture, Lugano.

THE COLLECTOR

Nirmalya Kumar (b. 1960) received his Bachelor of Commerce from Calcutta University, his MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago and his PhD. in marketing from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. He is Member Group Executive Council of Tata Sons and is responsible for strategy at the group level and a visiting professor of arketing at the London Business School. He has previously taught at Harvard Business School, IMD (Switzerland) and Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management). As an author, he has written six books and published several articles in leading academic journals. He is a ssionate supporter of the arts and charitable causes. He is the custodian of amongst the largest known private collection of paintings by Jamini Roy (1887‐1972) and Rabindranath Tagore (1861‐ 1941). He has served on the South Asian Acquisition Committee of Tate Modern. In
recognition of his patronage and promotion of South Asian Art, the School of Oriental
and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, awarded him an Honorary Fellowship in 2012.

Jamini Roy, Donna seduta, 1965, tempera su carta, 40×25,2 cm. Collezione Kumar.
Inv. 1029/JR13 © 2015 Museo delle Culture, Lugano.

Museum times:
The Exhibition is open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10 am to 6 pm.
For information: tel. +41 58 866 6960.

Prices.
Full price: Chf 12.-
Reductions: Chf 8.-
(AVS, AI, Lugano card, Tessera Agip Plus, Tessera di soggiorno, Touring Club Italiano, young people from 17-25 anni)

Free entry: children up to 16 years, members of the Amici del Museo association, Canton Ticino schools and the “Grigioni Italiani”, members of the International Council of Museums (ICOM),  Raiffeisen Bank cardholders, Holders of Società Navigazione del Lago di Lugano (SNL) transport tickets, museum passport holders and 18 year old season ticket holders.

Prices are in Swiss Francs (Chf) but it is possible to pay in Euro (€) or in dollars ($) change is given in Swiss Franks (Chf).

Museum of Cultures
Heleneum, Via Cortivo 24/28
6976 Lugano-Castagnola, Svizzera;
Tel. +41.(0)58.866.6960 (Centralino)
www.mcl.lugano.ch

Press office
Capitale Cultura International
Via Dunant 13, CP 137 - 6908 Lugano Massagno
Telefono +41 79 900 29 19
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