Masters

The sculptural sensibility of Sarbari Roy Choudhury represented in this monograph is figurative and animated, revealing the artist's connection with the Indian traditions of sculpture, despite the influences from his contacts with the West. Roy Choudhury is a modeller in the best modernist tradition, for whom sculpture is the magical act of turning clay into flesh. Like the work of many modern artists his figures often seem to exist out side the rationale of naturalism, but they are seldom dehumanised. Imbued with the organic, they are lyrically transformed and not expressively transfixed. A figurative sculptor, who pursues perfection, he is also a portraitist of great sensitivity, for whom music is the greatest inspiration. Some of his best works are of classical musicians- Bade Gulam Ali, Ali Akar Khan, Siddeshwari Devi and Kesarbai.Born in 1933,he graduated from the Government College of Art and Craft, Kolata in 1956. He further studied under sculptors Prodosh Dasgupta and Sankho Chaudhuri at the M.S. University, Baroda. The artist also served as the Head of the Department of Sculpture at the Indian Art College Kolkata between 1960 and 1962. With his close association with Ramkinkar Baij,he is seen as a successor of Baij and the modernist style in Indian sculpture.