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Reverted edits by Englissdaf (talk) to last version by GreenC bot

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{{short description|Indian painter (1875-1962)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Sunayani Devi
| image = Sunayani Devi 01.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Sunayani Devi
| birth_date = {{Birth date |df=yes|1875|06|18}}
| birth_place = [[Kolkata]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1962|02|23|1875|06|18}}
| death_place = Kolkata
| nationality = [[British Indian]], [[India]]n
| field = Painting
| other_names =
| occupation =
| known_for =
}}

'''Sunayani Devi''' ({{lang-bn|সুনয়নী দেবী}}) (18 June 1875 – 23 February 1962) was an Indian painter born into the aristocratic [[Tagore family]] in Calcutta, West Bengal. She was 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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/it-s-all-relative-115041001046_1.html|title= It's all relative | newspaper=Business Standard|last=Singh|first=Kishore|date=10 April 2015|access-date=16 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Local/Global: Women Artists in the Nineteenth Century|last=Helland|first=Janice|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|year=2016|isbn=978-0-7546-3197-2|pages=66–67}}</ref> She was married at the age of 12<ref name="samsad">{{cite encyclopedia |editor1-last=Sengupta|editor1-first=Subhodh Chandra|editor2-last=Basu|editor2-first=Anjali|encyclopedia=Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan (Bibliographical Dictionary)|title=Saroj Nalini Dutt|language=bn|edition=4th|date=January 2002|publisher=Shishu Sahitya Samsad|volume=Volume 1|location=Kolkata|isbn=81-85626-65-0|pages=798}}</ref> to the grandson of [[Ram Mohan Roy|Raja Ram Mohan Roy.]]

== Early life ==
Sunayani Devi was born on 18 June 1875<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://goaartgallery.com/devi_sunayani.htm|title=Artist Gellary – SUNAYANI DEVI|website=goaartgallery.com|access-date=2018-03-03}}</ref> in the historically influential [[Tagore family]] in Calcutta to Gunendranath Thakur and Soudamini Devi.<ref name="samsad" /> She was married at the age of 12 <ref name="samsad" /> to Rajanimohan Chattopadhyaya. She never had formal training in art other than the art and music lessons as feminine accomplishments, as Partha Mitter cites in his book, "The Triumph of Modernism: India's Artists and the Avant-garde, 1922–1947"<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=krdWkzVLSbkC&pg=PA234|title=The Triumph of Modernism: India's Artists and the Avant-garde, 1922–1947|last=Mitter|first=Partha|date=2007|publisher=Reaktion Books|isbn=978-1-86189-318-5|page=234}}</ref>

== Painting style and themes ==
Known to be a true primitive of the [[Bengal School of Art|Bengal Art School]], she drew inspiration from the folk [[Pattachitra|Pata]] painting style which was familiar to the women of the Tagore household. Often depicting scenes from Indian epics and mythologies in her works. Some of her notable works are Sadhika, Ardhanarisvar, Satir Dehatyag, Milk Maids, Yashoda and Krishna among others.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.criticalcollective.in/ArtistInner2.aspx?Aid=546&Eid=647|title=Critical collective|last=Kar|first=Amina|website=Critical Collective}}</ref> According to Stella Kramrisch, she was the first modern painter in India. Her works were exhibited in 1922 as part of the Bauhaus artists exhibition in Calcutta.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://criticalcollective.in|title=Artists}}</ref> Since the beginning her artworks have been original and bold. They resemble the ancient Jain manuscript paintings. She applied wash technique to its fullest and later her woks echoed the native imagery like village clay dolls that would be used as ornamentation. Her works are an amalgamation of modernist dialogue of primitive simplicity and a larger national discourse of being rooted in its cultural identity. Thus carving her image as a nationalist artist. Critical analyses of her portraits, have led her to be addressed as a naïve painter, who used folk themes with allure and sensitivity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.museumsofindia.gov.in/repository/record/ngma_blr-acc-no-00355-466|title=Milk Maids|website=National Portal and Digital Repository for Indian Museums|access-date=2019-03-12}}</ref>

== Exhibitions ==
Some of the exhibitions of Sunayani Devi's paintings are:<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://goaartgallery.com/devi_sunayani.htm|title=Goa Art Gallery}}</ref>
# 1908, 10, 12 Exhb., Indian Society of Oriental Art, Calcutta.
# 1911 United Provinces Exhb. organised by Indian Society of Oriental Art, Allahabad.
# 1911 Festival of Empire, organised by Indian Society of Oriental Art for George Vs Coronation Crystal Palace, London.
# 1924 Travelling exhb. organised by Indian Society of Oriental Art and American Federation of Art, USA.
# 2004 Manifestations II, organised by Delhi Art Gallery, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai and Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/lf/2004/08/03/stories/2004080301020200.htm|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=2004-08-03|title=Title unknown}}{{dead link|date=April 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
# 2011 Summer Oasis, organised by Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Kolkata<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/1110615/jsp/calcutta/story_14115370.jsp|title=Timeout}}</ref>

== Museums ==
Sunayani Devi's paintings are part of the collection of many prestigious Museums. These include:<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.museumsofindia.gov.in/repository/search/all/basic/Sunayani%20Devi/1/1/10?museumId=all&exactWordMatch=on|title=Museums of India (Government Website)}}</ref>
# [[Indian Museum, Kolkata|Indian Museum Kolkata]]
# NGMA, Bengaluru
# [[National Gallery of Modern Art|NGMA New Delhi]]
# The National Art Gallery, Chennai.
# Sri Chitra Art Gallery, Thiruvananthapuram.
# Jaganmohan Palace, Mysore.
# Lucknow University, Lucknow.
# Rabindra Bharati University Museum, Kolkata.
# Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata.

== References ==
<references />
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Painters from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Indian women painters]]
[[Category:Artists from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Tagore family]]
[[Category:Bengal Renaissance]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian painters]]
[[Category:Women artists from West Bengal]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women artists]]
[[Category:1875 births]]
[[Category:1962 deaths]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindus]]

Sunayani Devi - Revision history

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