Abani Roy

Born 1904 – Died 1975

Abani Roy was born in Bengal, India, and trained as an artist in Kolkata. In 1931 Roy was commissioned by Sir Akbar Hydari to create a picture of the historic Round Table Conference on India in London at St. James’s Palace, attended – in the second session – by Mahatma Gandhi. Related prints are now in the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland. Roy’s work was included at several Royal Academy summer exhibitions in the 1930s, earning favourable comment in reviews. Living in Hampstead, he came to know Jim and Helen Ede, and was a frequent guest at their house on Elm Row. Jim Ede introduced him to those he thought might help him in his career, such as the founders of the Dartington Hall School, Dorothy and Leonard Elmhirst, and later gifted works by Roy to the National Galleries of Scotland.