Sunayani Devi (18 June 1875 – 23 February 1962).
Sunayani Devi is one such artist who was left out of the historical records. So, who was Sunayani Devi? We all know the aristocratic Tagore family of Kolkata. Sunayani Devi was a member of this family. She was Rabindranath Tagore's niece. She was born to Saudamini Devi and Gunendranath Tagore. She was an Indian painter, a self taught artist, with no academic training in art. Inspired by her brothers, Abanindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore, and Samarendranath Tagore, she started painting only at the age of 30. She would often spy on her brothers' paintings to learn the art.
She was married at the age of 12 to Rajaninath Roy, the grandson of Raja Ram Mohan Roy. It was actually Rajaninath Roy who inspired her to paint.
She used the process of Wash Technique in her paintings. She would first draw a red or black outline with brush on a piece of paper. This was then filled with colors using a thin paint brush. After this, she would dip the sheets in a circular drum of water allowing the colors to be absorbed by paper. The wash was used as a repetitive continuous process. This wash infested her work with a delicate and unique hue.
She had learnt embroidery from her mother. She would often use silk embroidery in her art, which separated her art work as unique.
"Most of my paintings, I have seen in my dreams. Later, I put them down in my drawings". Sunayani Devi would often say this to her grand son.
She had the shortest art career amongst all her siblings, but her use of water colors, pastels and a unique wash technique process made her paintings stand out as a quality piece of art.
Comments
Post a Comment