Shree Lal Joshi (5 March 1931 – 2 March 2018) was an Indian Chippa caste artist of phad painting, a form of popular folk painting of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

Life

Joshi was born on 5 March 1931 at Shahpura in

Bhilwara district Bhilwara District is a district of the States and territories of India, state of Rajasthan in western India. The city of Bhilwara is the district headquarters. History Stone Age tools dating from 5,000 to 200,000 years were found in Bundi dis ...

in a family widely known as the traditional artists of phad painting for the last few centuries. His father Ramchandra Joshi initiated him into this traditional art at the age of 13. He discovered many new techniques and painted quite original and meaningful compositions. He was also renowned for his fresco-style wall paintings as well as Phad. He received the National Award for his Wall Painting at Crafts Museum, New Delhi. Elephant, horses, lions, and women with pitchers on their heads were the usual motifs of his painting. To begin with his experimentation, he introduced and composed small phad paintings with new themes for this traditional art-form based on the episodes of the Devnarayan Mahagatha, the battle of Haldighati and the ''jauhar'' (self-immolation) of Padmini, the lives of Maharana Pratap, Prithvi Raj Chouhan, Rani Hadi, Padmini, Dhola Maru, Amar Singh Rathore, Buddha, Mahavira and the narratives from the Gitagovindam, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Kumarasambhava. ''Tukra''s (Small pieces) paintings were introduced by him. Apart from the Bhopas, the traditional phad singer-priests, buyers of his works include the art connoisseurs, tourists, private and Government emporia and private art galleries. His works have been also found in the collections of various museums, which include National Museum, Indira Gandhi National Art Museum, National Craft Museum and Sanskriti Museum in New Delhi, Hare Krishna Museum, Kurushetra, Bhartia Lok Kala Mandal, Udaipur,

Jawahar Kala Kendra The Jawahar Kala Kendra (JKK) is a multi-arts center located in the city of Jaipur, India. It was built by the Government of Rajasthan to preserve Rajasthani arts and crafts. The center has eight blocks housing museums, an amphitheater, a clos ...

, Jaipur, Linden Museum, Germany, Leforet Museum, Japan, Albert Museum, London, Landes Museum, Austria, Smith Sonian Museum, Washington, Syracuse University, USA Etenografisca Museum, Stockholm, and also in the museums of Singapore, Germany, Netherlands and France. His sons, Kalyan and Gopal are also notable artists of this art form. Kalyan Joshi's phad paintings are now adorning prime minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

's office walls.

Awards and honours

A long association with

Komal Kothari Komal Kothari (1929–2004) was an Indian folklorist and ethnomusicologist. Komal Kothari had devoted his life to investigation and documentation of folk traditions of western Rajasthan. Kothari received the honour of Padma Shri and Padma Bhusha ...

, Kapila Vatsyayan and Jyotindra Jain inspired Joshi to experiment and innovate. He earned many international and national awards. He received the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

award in 2006 and the Shilpaguru award (2007). The Government of India issued a Rs. 5/- postal stamp on his famous creation- ''Phad of Shri Devnarayan''.

International Awards

*SAARC International Award, Islamabad *Black Magician Award, German Festival, Stuttgart

National Awards

*National Merit Award, New Delhi, 1969,'72,'74 *National Award, 1984 *Silver Award, Bhartiya Lok Kala Mandal, 1979 *Kala Shree Award, Haryana Government, 1989 *Bhuwalka Public Welfare Award, Marudhara Institute, Calcutta, 1994 *

Award, New Delhi, 2006 *Sangeet Shyamla Award, Kolkata, 2007 *Shilpaguru Award, 2007

Documentaries on his works

*"The Folklore" by Mani Kaul *"Phad Painting & Shri Lal Joshi" by Lalit Kala Academy *"Painted Epics of Rajasthan" by Door Darshan *"Twenty four Bagrwat Bros. & Lord Dev narayan" by J.C. Miller *"Phad Paintings of Rajasthan" by BBC.

References