{{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 = Calcutta, Bengal presidency, British India | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1962|02|23|1875|06|18}} | death_place = Calcutta, West Bengal, India | field = Painting | other_names = | occupation = | known_for = }} '''Sunayani Devi''' (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}}<br>- {{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=1|location=Kolkata|isbn=81-85626-65-0|pages=798}}</ref> to the grandson of 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=Sunayani Devi|publisher=Goa Art Gallery|access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref> in the historically influential Tagore family in Calcutta<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-03 |title=Sunayani Devi: Art, Life & Legacy |url=https://prinseps.com/research/sunayani-devi-the-first-indian-woman-painter-to-gain-public-recognition/ |access-date=2025-07-16 |website=Prinseps |language=en-in}}</ref> to Gunendranath Thakur and Soudamini Devi.<ref name="samsad" /> She was married at the age of 12 <ref name="samsad" /> to Rajanimohan Chattopadhyaya. According to the writer, Partha Mitter, she never had formal training in art other than the art and music lessons as feminine accomplishments.<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 Art School, she drew inspiration from the Pata folk 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'' and ''Yashoda and Krishna''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.criticalcollective.in/ArtistInner2.aspx?Aid=546&Eid=647|title=.Critical collective|last=Kar|first=Amina|website=Critical Collective|access-date=3 March 2018|archive-date=5 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805131412/https://criticalcollective.in/ArtistInner2.aspx?Aid=546&Eid=647|url-status=dead}}</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|access-date=22 July 2022|archive-date=18 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220618032411/https://criticalcollective.in/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Since the beginning, her works have been original and bold. They resemble the ancient Jain manuscript paintings. She applied wash technique to its fullest and later her works 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 naive 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 Museums of India |access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref>
== Exhibitions == Among Devi's exhibitions 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 V's 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=3 August 2004|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|work=The Telegraph|location=India|access-date=3 March 2018|archive-date=3 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303164737/https://www.telegraphindia.com/1110615/jsp/calcutta/story_14115370.jsp|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Museums == Sunayani Devi's paintings are part of the collection of many museums, including:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://paintphotographs.com/article/sunayani-devi-artist-profile|title=Her Collections in Museums of India|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230914124243/https://paintphotographs.com/article/sunayani-devi-artist-profile |archive-date=14 September 2023 }}</ref> * Indian Museum Kolkata * National Gallery of Modern Art, Bangalore * National Gallery of Modern Art New Delhi * National Art Gallery, Chennai * Sree Chitra Art Gallery, Thiruvananthapuram * Jaganmohan Palace, Mysore * University of Lucknow * Rabindra Bharati University Museum, Kolkata * Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata
==Family tree== {{main|Tagore family#Family tree}}
== References == <references />
== External links ==
* [https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/g11fkl9t39c Profile on Google Arts & Culture] * [https://indianculture.gov.in/node/2686647 Profile on indianculture.gov.in] {{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 Category:Painters from British India