Emerging era of paintings and art pieces have created a high demand among buyers for the most unique and tangible painting stuff. Nowadays, all religious sentiments of people are being satisfied by hanging most of the reliable paintings and sculptures of gods and goddesses in our homes.
Whether it is the portrait or paintings of Ganesha, Lakshmi, Lord Shiva, Buddha or any other god or goddess, trend of presenting portraits is continuously fluctuating and evolving. Artists today are experimenting and playing with combinations of multiple options, ranging from colors, to media, to base material, etc.
We at Indianartideas gallery, present to you the ranges of different art pieces and works, ranging from traditional art to modern and contemporary art, to sculpture, photography and sketches. Visit the website and buy affordable art according to your own wish.
Let us explore the world of ‘TRADITIONAL-TANJORE PAINTINGS’ a little more.
Tanjore Paintings: History and style
- Historical origin:-
Arisen from the roots of Southern India., this art form is created to celebrate the rich and artistic traditions and cultures of the otherwise culturally rich region Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu. Also known by the name Thanjavur Painting, it is best known for its extravagant depictions of gods and goddesses with the help of vibrant and dark colored representations. This art form is also known to use gaudy embellishments like gold foil to enhance the richness of the painting it is made to reflect.
Tanjore art has taken wings since the 16th century under the finest administration of Rayas of Vijayanagara empire and their kingdom , specifically Nayakas of Thanjaur, in Southern India. This was all done under the supervisionary insight of the Nayaka Governors, the great patrons in the then Vijaynagara empire who supported art and literature.
- Style and characteristics:-
There might be some special features of Tanjore paintings that they are so much widely represented and are popular. The Central government has given GI tag to these paintings in the recent years.
- Richness and vividness in colors, with simple iconic composition and glittering gold foils laid on extensive gesso work, use of shining glass beads and pieces of precious and semi-precious gems.
- Subjects include Hindugods, goddesses, saints and icons, mythologies from Hindu Puranas, and other religious texts.
- These paintings are done on wooden planks, canvas, glass, paper, mica, ivory, walls, etc.
- Thanjavur Paintings were used to be made on a canvas pasted over a wooden plank using Arabic gum.
- The canvas was then evenly coated with a paste of chalk or powdered limestone and a binding medium and kept for drying.
- The artist then used to draw a detailed outline of the subjects on the canvas.
- Then, paste made of limestone powder and any binding medium was used for doing the Gesso work.
- Gold leaves and gems were lastly attached along corners or in selected areas like pillars, arches, thrones, dresses, etc. to enhance the quality. Finally, colors and paint were applied on the sketch.
- In the past, paintings were decorated using vegetable and mineral dyes and other natural colours but over time chemical paints have taken the place. The colour palettes of Tanjore paintings uses vibrant shades of reds, blues and greens, and other strong bold colors. This bold color use and richness and dense compositions of paintings always ensure that they stand out from other Indian art forms.
- Common themes found in Tanjore paintings revolve around Bal Krishna, Lord Rama, as well as other gods, goddesses, saints and other important subjects from Hindu mythology.
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Pioneers in the field of Tanjore paintings
Anciently, Tanjore paintings were created exclusively by the Raju community of Tanjore and Tiruchy and the Naidu community of Madurai. These artists, originally Telugu-speaking Andhraites, moved to Tamil Nadu after the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire.
The technique by which Tanjore paintings are made demanded great deal of perseverance, patience and perfection from artists. Furthermore, the creation of this artwork is considered a sacred task, and should be performed with some ritual purity by the master craftsmen. Remaining true to the Indian artistic tradition, many of the sacred artists remained anonymous and never signed their paintings.
Tanjore painting influenced heavily from the diverse cultural groups that patronised this artform and it was also influenced by other prominent painting styles under the Vijayanagara school, Kalamkari and Tirupati styles of painting to name a few.
Conclusion
Tanjore paintings not only increases the aesthetic value of where they are but, but also reminds us of our traditional Indian culture and tastes.
Lakshmi Tanjore painting and famous artist paintings having traditional themes and subjects beautify the air with divinity, respect and patriotic feelings for our ancient culture. The way our artists are keeping them alive and preserving the ancient tradition fills our heart with love and respect!