Painting

TANJORE PAINTINGS

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Thanjavur has a unique place in the history of Indian painting, in that it houses the 11th century Chola wall paintings in the Brihadeeswarar temple (Periya koyil or Pervudaiyar koyil in Tamil) as also paintings from the Nayak period (many times superimposed on the earlier Chola paintings dating to the 16th century.The fall of the Vijayanagar Empire and the sack of Hampi in the Battle of Talikota in 1565 CE resulted in the migration of painters who had been dependent on the patronage of the empire. Some of them migrated to Thanjavur and worked under the patronage of the Thanjavur Nayakas. Subsequently, the Maratha rulers who defeated the Thanjavur Nayakas began to nurture the Thanjavur atelier. Needless to say, the artists absorbed the local influences and the individual tastes of their Maratha patrons which helped evolve the unique Thanjavur style of painting.

Thanjavur paintings were made in various sizes depending upon the function, the subject and the choice of the patron. Large paintings of deities and the Maratha rulers, their courtiers and nobility, were painted and installed to serve as architectural accents in the Maratha palaces and buildings. To quote Dallapiccola - ' The works, executed on canvas pasted on a wooden support, were framed - a major departure from the pan-Indian tradition, in which paintings are of small size - and designed to be hung on the walls of domestic puja rooms or in bhajan halls. The themes, as in painted albums, (made for European patrons) were usually gods and goddesses, holy places, religious personalities and occasionally portraits. Their dazzling palette consisted generally of vivid reds, deep greens, chalk white, turquoise blues and the lavish use of gold (foil) and inset glass beads. Sometimes precious stones were also used in the paintings.

The Tanjore style of paintings spring from a late phase of South Indian classical art, when the society in which it originated was itself going through turbulent times. Needless to say, Tanjore paintings are informed by a syncretic style, notable for its assimilation of the contemporary diverse cultural influences - Tamil, Telugu, Maratha, European, Deccani, Folk, etc. The style drew heavily from the other major South Indian styles of painting which were all deeply influenced by the Vijayanagar school.

Artists have taken this old form of art and over the years combined it with other styles to create mixed media arts. For example, tanjores are also done on mirrors, glass and canvas. The idea of applying gold foil is unique to this traditional art, so this same style is taken and recreated on different mediums.

Sunil kumar

Southern city creations

Phone: 8951315880

email: interiorsunilkumar@gmail.com