<p>With earthen hand-made colours and also gold paint, artists from different schools of Rajasthani (also Rajputana) art have seen a magnanimous display at Lalit Kala Academy. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Like any other art exhibition there are coloured and black and white paintings hung on large white walls, but there is a stack of knowledge one can take home from each of these paintings. Knowledge about the people of Rajasthan, their lifestyle, their deities, their folk tales and also the past, present and contemporary developments in Rajasthani artwork can be effortlessly traced by the paintings you’re looking at. The Kala Vithi Art Exhibition brings together 10 master painters -curated by Durgesh Shankar, exhibits traditions in modernity. <br /><br />Phad painting, the most widely known form of Rajasthani art, depicts stories of emperors, kings men, kingdoms on white cloth or paper. These stories and themes are derived from oral and written narratives which are over 700 years old. <br /><br />“Earlier the same paintings were printed or bought life-size and taken by storytellers in Rajasthan. In cultural events, they would put the painting at a back of the stage and narrate a story on it whole night long in front of an audience. Now they are used to hang at home,” says Kalyan Joshi, who has made a collage of phad paintings.<br /><br />His cut and paste kind of collage includes a scene of Krishna and Radha’s life as the main part, with a torn strip on another layer telling a shlok on the pair, another strip also has miniature style sketches telling an event from Krishna’s life. It retains all elements of phad style but is exhibited in Joshi’s personal style.<br /><br />“If we do not improvise on the style, the style will become redundant,” says Pradip Mukherjee, the senior most artists among the 10.<br /><br />Most of the painters depend on reading for their work, Mukherjee reads at least five six books to tell a story through his painting. Though most stories come from <br />epics like Ramayana, but according to him the same story can be retold in many ways, as every time the painter has a new imagination. He has given a twist to the phad form that he learnt from his guru. In all his paintings Mukherjee has explained his story with artwork along with shloks and chaupayi written from verses in the puranas. In his paintings of Ramayana, Ganesha and Hanuman, he captures the events of their lives in a one to two inches frame, in miniature style. <br /><br />“Stories of deities are not folk art of Rajasthan. The main folk art is about the stories of Papuji and Dev Narayan, whom the Gujjars worship wholly. Phad which looks very much the same is miniature and based on religion and mythology. There are many kinds of schools one can see, and all are not folk art. Proper miniature paintings have shading and dot work, where the paintbrush is thinner than a needle. <br /><br />Miniature paintings can be on topics which are beyond Rajasthani culture, such as Mughal portraits and still lives, where the technique such as costumes and background remains same but the people figures differ. There are many variations that have been created over the years,” Mukherjee tells Metrolife.<br /><br />He explains that each school of painting has infused influences from the place from where it comes from. Schools such as Mewar and Kangra have distinctive, figurative postures and features, given to their human figures. In Kangra style, human figures have long sharp noses and narrow eyes. The Udaipur gharana paintings will mostly have lakes and waters in the background of the scene. Likewise, some gharanas also differ only on the basis of hues used.<br /><br />Kuldeep Soni, 27 is the youngest of the lot and he has completely turned the <br />Rajasthani style into contemporary. He is a professional miniature painter, but for the sake of art, he mixed colours and textures of different schools of Rajasthan art, and brought about something which is a far-fetched future of the style. His figures are symbolic of Radha-Krishna and do not look anything like the other paintings in the exhibition, but rather like a modern work or art.<br /><br />Mukherjee says that there have been many developments in the form, but buyers still prefer the old-style phad paintings. <br /><br />Over 100 paintings are on display, some from private collections of the painters. Among the works on sale include phad paintings (originally narrative scrolls on long canvas pieces, since miniaturized and painted on cloth/canvas or paper), pichwais (large paintings intended to provide a backdrop to the idol of Sri Nathji, to depict a festival or mood) and Rajasthani, Mughal and Persian miniature paintings.<br /><br />The exhibition/sale will continue till February 19 at the Lalit Kala Akademi Art Gallery. <br /></p>
<p>With earthen hand-made colours and also gold paint, artists from different schools of Rajasthani (also Rajputana) art have seen a magnanimous display at Lalit Kala Academy. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Like any other art exhibition there are coloured and black and white paintings hung on large white walls, but there is a stack of knowledge one can take home from each of these paintings. Knowledge about the people of Rajasthan, their lifestyle, their deities, their folk tales and also the past, present and contemporary developments in Rajasthani artwork can be effortlessly traced by the paintings you’re looking at. The Kala Vithi Art Exhibition brings together 10 master painters -curated by Durgesh Shankar, exhibits traditions in modernity. <br /><br />Phad painting, the most widely known form of Rajasthani art, depicts stories of emperors, kings men, kingdoms on white cloth or paper. These stories and themes are derived from oral and written narratives which are over 700 years old. <br /><br />“Earlier the same paintings were printed or bought life-size and taken by storytellers in Rajasthan. In cultural events, they would put the painting at a back of the stage and narrate a story on it whole night long in front of an audience. Now they are used to hang at home,” says Kalyan Joshi, who has made a collage of phad paintings.<br /><br />His cut and paste kind of collage includes a scene of Krishna and Radha’s life as the main part, with a torn strip on another layer telling a shlok on the pair, another strip also has miniature style sketches telling an event from Krishna’s life. It retains all elements of phad style but is exhibited in Joshi’s personal style.<br /><br />“If we do not improvise on the style, the style will become redundant,” says Pradip Mukherjee, the senior most artists among the 10.<br /><br />Most of the painters depend on reading for their work, Mukherjee reads at least five six books to tell a story through his painting. Though most stories come from <br />epics like Ramayana, but according to him the same story can be retold in many ways, as every time the painter has a new imagination. He has given a twist to the phad form that he learnt from his guru. In all his paintings Mukherjee has explained his story with artwork along with shloks and chaupayi written from verses in the puranas. In his paintings of Ramayana, Ganesha and Hanuman, he captures the events of their lives in a one to two inches frame, in miniature style. <br /><br />“Stories of deities are not folk art of Rajasthan. The main folk art is about the stories of Papuji and Dev Narayan, whom the Gujjars worship wholly. Phad which looks very much the same is miniature and based on religion and mythology. There are many kinds of schools one can see, and all are not folk art. Proper miniature paintings have shading and dot work, where the paintbrush is thinner than a needle. <br /><br />Miniature paintings can be on topics which are beyond Rajasthani culture, such as Mughal portraits and still lives, where the technique such as costumes and background remains same but the people figures differ. There are many variations that have been created over the years,” Mukherjee tells Metrolife.<br /><br />He explains that each school of painting has infused influences from the place from where it comes from. Schools such as Mewar and Kangra have distinctive, figurative postures and features, given to their human figures. In Kangra style, human figures have long sharp noses and narrow eyes. The Udaipur gharana paintings will mostly have lakes and waters in the background of the scene. Likewise, some gharanas also differ only on the basis of hues used.<br /><br />Kuldeep Soni, 27 is the youngest of the lot and he has completely turned the <br />Rajasthani style into contemporary. He is a professional miniature painter, but for the sake of art, he mixed colours and textures of different schools of Rajasthan art, and brought about something which is a far-fetched future of the style. His figures are symbolic of Radha-Krishna and do not look anything like the other paintings in the exhibition, but rather like a modern work or art.<br /><br />Mukherjee says that there have been many developments in the form, but buyers still prefer the old-style phad paintings. <br /><br />Over 100 paintings are on display, some from private collections of the painters. Among the works on sale include phad paintings (originally narrative scrolls on long canvas pieces, since miniaturized and painted on cloth/canvas or paper), pichwais (large paintings intended to provide a backdrop to the idol of Sri Nathji, to depict a festival or mood) and Rajasthani, Mughal and Persian miniature paintings.<br /><br />The exhibition/sale will continue till February 19 at the Lalit Kala Akademi Art Gallery. <br /></p>
