Saraswati

Sunayani Devi was one of the first modern Indian women artists. She was a self-taught artist from the Tagore family and the two main inspirations for her were village clay dolls which were used to decorate homes and Kalighat paintings also known as Kalighat pats. She was one of the early artists in India to take inspiration from village Pata art. This inspiration can be observed in her paintings through the use of simple figures, rounded faces and long half-closed eyes especially of paintings of gods and goddesses. Untitled (Saraswati) was created around 1920. It presents us the Hindu goddess Saraswati who is associated with knowledge, wisdom, music and learning. In the artwork Saraswati is holding a veena and standing on a flower. The veena represents the connection with music and the arts. Her rounded face and long half-closed eyes give her a calm and peaceful expression. The simple way Sunayani painted makes the figure look graceful. Sunayani Devi uses simple shapes, delicate lines and soft colors in her paintings instead of creating realistic details and paintings. Her paintings were also connected to her dreams and imagination. She once mentioned that many of her paintings came from dreams which she later recreated on paper. She also felt that her work was different from that of her brothers because she painted from her inner world and personal thoughts. Although she painted religious figures such as Saraswati, Lakshmi and Radha Krishna and she presented them in her own way. Her paintings were not only about showing gods and goddesses, also about daily lives of women. Through Untitled (Saraswati), we can see how she brought together Indian folk art, mythology and her own ideas to develop a style of her own.