Incidentally famous

Suhas Roy is a slight person "" not in skill, but in stature and manner. He, however, has a large laugh. His solo showing at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai this month was a sell-out in the opening hours. Reason enough to laugh hard and loud. But Roy reflects a contentment that goes deeper than his material accomplishments.

What is incredulous is that in his artistic career spanning half a century, this is Roy's first ever solo exhibition. "It has been his habit to haphazardly sell his work, without actually ever collecting a comprehensive body of work," says Manvinder Dawer, proprietor, India Fine Art.

By all accounts, Roy, first principal at Indian College of Art in Kolkata, then head of the painting department at Kala Bhavan in Santiniketan, has been an academician first, and artist second: "Today's artists make money producing art, I didn't have that privilege. I only produced and sold enough to get by, and that was fine," he smiles.

For a man who's only indication of his talent was that he always got 10 out of 10 in art class copying calendar images of Rabindranath Tagore, Roy was pleasantly surprised when he won a two-year scholarship to study under the tutelage of Prof SW Hayter at the Ecole Superior Des Beaux Arts in Paris. That period of committed application opened up a whole new world for Roy.

"I really honed my skills in print making and graphics in Paris, but found there wasn't a market for it back in India. After teaching graphics for 12 years, I detached myself from it and returned to painting," says Roy.

Back in India, Roy shifted residence from Kolkata to Santiniketan, a move that spun off a whole new range of influences on his oeuvre.

"Nature inadvertently crept into my compositions; I guess Santiniketan's environs brought back childhood memories of rural East Bengal," he says, "I found myself moving away from the earlier influences of the Impressionists and the old Masters, and moved towards the characteristics of Kangra miniatures, even in my choice of handmade paper over canvas," says Roy.

His earlier landscapes are less familiar today. These days, he seems to let popular demand influence his choice of theme, and so you find more Radhas and Christs and fewer landscapes and crows. "I will paint whatever my buyers want me to," he utters straightforwardly.

Roy's primary fascination was always with the female face and form, and Radha proved to be a chance but opportune muse for him.

"Radha was originally baptised Taru, but when I was asked to contribute to a show that was themed Krishna, I passed her off as Radha to fit the theme," he laughs. Radha, for Roy, is always a voluptuous, long-tressed woman, previously always alone, recently accompanied by other gopis, always personifying a poetic grace and gentle sensuality.

Roy personally believes his kudos hinges on his first ever Radha series. However, what is widely construed as his most significant product is actually the grave, brooding image of Christ that Roy has been painting for four decades.

"On a visit to Venice and Florence, I became drawn to painted scenes from the Bible, as depicted by the Great Masters. Other characters from the gospel are notably missing; "my concern was always only with Christ," he says.

This life-long affiliation was recognised by the Vatican, that recently bought a Suhas Roy Christ. The success of his subjects have always had as much to do with his choice of materials "" pastels, charcoal, dry colour powder and tempera, always carefully selected and meticulously controlled.