Art influenced by folk forms
PRADEEP CHAKRAVARTHY
| The painters of the Pallava, chola and the Pandya periods were adept at their art. |
Blend of devotion and aesthetics: Thanjavur paintings.
(This is the third of a five-part series on the Government Museum, Chennai)
In India, religion has always been a powerful influence on society. Like other aspects, art was also powerfully influenced by religion.
The temples and other religious institutions patronised art and thereby caused the themes painted to have religious significance. Ancient texts such as the Chitrasutra reflect an in-depth understanding of the nuances of painting and the different types of painting that were prevalent in those times. Detailed directions were given to differentiate mediocre painters from the better ones. If both were to draw a man sleeping, the former will make it look like a corpse and the latter like a man resting is one of the more direct observations!
Texts like the Silapadigaram mention ancient temples and palaces with walls covered with paintings done in the most lifelike manner, none of these remain but we have at least one example of fine painting from the Pallava period (Panamalai), from the Chola period (the murals in the Brihadeswara temple) and the Pandya period (Sithanavasal).
These paintings show that our ancient painters were adept at their art. They used the wet fresco method which meant that they needed to work fast, before the base dried out and had to choose and mix colours keeping in mind that the eventual colour will be several shades different since the natural pigments fade with age. The painter also focused on the natural treatment of the subject and had an eye for understanding how light and shade affected the human form.
Various modes
The Vijayanagar and Nayak periods saw the painters becoming increasingly influenced by folk forms, figures become sharply two dimensional, colours become flat and the painting becomes more clearly serialised into little boxes that when seen right to left, tell a definite story.
Captions in Telugu or Tamil also help the onlooker. Most importantly, painters begin to use the dry fresco method that requires less expertise.
In the Nayak period we also have evidence of paintings on large panels of cloth that were meant for temples and palaces, these were done using the Kalamkari method.
The advent of the Muslim rule and then the British rule gave impetus to two styles which are famous in the south, Thanjavur style paintings and the canvas paintings of Ravi Varma.
Ancient styles of paintings were only on the walls but of the latter styles, the museum has several fine examples.
Beauty with colours: At the museum
Preserve of the wealthy
Some of the highlights of the collection are as follows:
Thanjavur paintings are today a ubiquitous part of most south Indian homes either in the drawing room or the puja room and if one hasn’t inherited them, they are easy to buy through the internet or the local gift shop. However at one point of time in the 18/19th century they were the preserve of the wealthy and the royal. Considered by many to be an ‘invention’ during the reign of Serfoji II (1798-1832), they incorporated a south Indian painting style of showing the figures in a two dimensional mould with flat colours where the size of the figure was indicative of importance with a Deccani/Mughal influence of infusing the painting with gold leaf.
Fine and delicate
Early Thanjavur paintings have thin sheets of gold embossed on a surface treated with a paste that had engraved details. The work is fine and delicate and is accompanied by painting that has a great attention to detail.
The subject was of Hindu deities especially Krishna. The paintings were done by a Telugu speaking community. The museum has fine examples of these paintings but the show stealers are 30 paintings that depict the Maratha rulers. Contemporary visitors to Serfoji II talk of his durbar hall decorated with Thanjavur Tanjore paintings and oil paintings of his ancestors and it is very likely that the museum has most of them. The royals are shown in stiff and conventional postures, either holding court, or standing beside a balcony or window or seated in leisure with their queen. In all of them, the treatment of the designs on the textiles and jewellery is superb. A more affordable cousin of the Tanjores’ was the more folksy glass paintings that were inspired by Chinese exports. The museum has a collection of these, the pictures of the dancing girl/princess; the two princes are fine examples of this style that disappeared when the cheaper oleographs hit the market in the early 20th century.Among the oil painters, Ravi Varma is the most famous. The Museum has some of his paintings, the best being the one depicting Yashodha and Krishna.
The eyes of Krishna appear as if they are looking at you regardless of the angle you see the painting from.
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