Mother and Daughter

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Item Code: OS16
Specifications:
Oil on Canvas
Dimensions 33.0 inches X 24.0 inches
Handmade
Handmade
Free delivery
Free delivery
Fully insured
Fully insured
100% Made in India
100% Made in India
Fair trade
Fair trade
This painting, a portrait of two women, one, a young girl, and other, one of the advanced age, perhaps a daughter and her mother, is a brilliant attempt at discovering in the simplest forms and few colours a theme – a mother dressing up her daughter, as also the minds of the two figures, a young girl’s apprehensions, indecision, fears and perhaps hopes in regard to future she is going to face, and a mother’s anxiety to know what is going on in her daughter’s mind, as also her worries and fears. Visually it appears to be a simple theme: a woman of advanced age combing a young woman’s hair. As suggest the jewellery box and the necklace lying along other articles, a small looking-glass and an oil-bottle among others, she is dressing her up for some formal occasion, perhaps meeting her husband after a period of tension and discord. With deep concern reflecting on her face the elderly woman is in all probabilities her mother, or one with mother-like concern, though the girl’s social status, a middle or upper middle class family, hardly supports the contention that the family could have a regular maid for the purpose.

The painting, rendered pursuing late nineteenth century Bazaar art style, especially its idiom as practised in Bengal, is a brilliant example of discovering a theme in portraits of the represented figures, again one of the main characteristics of this late nineteenth century art style finding its best accomplishment in the paintings of Raja Ravi Verma who was primarily responsible for giving to portraits also thematic dimensions. This painting primarily portrays two women in their fullness, their appearance, social status, customs, costume-styles, mutual relationship, and even theology, as also each one’s mind, its apprehensions and fears, and its anxiety and concern, something that in modern art a portrait was required to essentially accomplish.

In all probabilities the painting portrays a young married girl, reconciled to her husband, readying to go to him. Vermilion applied on her hair-parting decisively indicates her marital status. Reconciliation apart, apprehensions and doubts yet lurk in her mind, and hence some reluctance. A matured woman, the young damsel would dress herself up if it was her own choice. That initiative and enthusiasm is completely missing in her portrayal. She has facing her a mirror but her eyes seem to be looking elsewhere, perhaps within her, to a past event, or to a future fear, a sore memory or a painful tomorrow. A broken one, her seating posture suggests that she has submitted herself to her mother’s wish, though in turn the mother, too, is not much confident of how the things would shape or take a turn. She is holding in one hand the comb, and in the other, a braid of her hair, but her eyes are directed to neither of them.

The scene has been composed on a large terrace covering horizontally almost half of the canvas. The two women are seated on temporarily laid matting. A few subdued forms apart, a faint moon in the sky, a distant hill-range, a lake with a flight of steps and a pair of swans-like aquatic birds in it, some shadows-like looking trees with cypresses rising above others, and a marble railing identifying a part of the terrace from the rest, the background is broadly an expanse of greenish-grey void. Such background affords an appropriate setting to the portrayed figures for as necessitated the theme they have neither glowing faces reflecting inner lustre nor brilliant costume and jewels.

This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of literature and is the author of numerous books on Indian art and culture. Dr. Daljeet is the curator of the Miniature Painting Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi. They have both collaborated together on a number of books.


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Oil painting technique – India centric

Oil painting is the most interesting technique in art. Unlike other paintings or art forms, oil painting is a process in which colored pigments are painted on the canvas with a drying oil medium as a binder. This medium helps colors blend beautifully to create layers and also makes them appear rich and dense. Several varieties of oil are used in this painting such as sunflower oil, linseed oil, etc., and depending on the quality of the oil, a particular consistency of the paint is developed. With the use of an oil medium, the painting gets a natural sheen on the surface which appears extremely attractive. India is famous for its old tradition of making oil paintings. This art form was brought by Europeans in the 18th century and is now practiced by almost all well-known artists. Nirmal, a small tribal town in the state of Telangana is the center of traditional oil paintings in India where the local people practice it with dedication. Most Indian artists still use the traditional technique of oil painting.

Canvas of the required size is prepared

The artists use either a wood panel or canvas made from linen or cotton. Sometimes the canvas is stretched onto the wooden frame to form a solid base, or cardboard may be used. The canvas is coated with a layer of white paint or chalk mixed with animal glue. This mixture is then smoothed and dried to form a uniform, textured surface. The wooden panel is more expensive and heavier but its solidity is an advantage in making detailed paintings with ease.
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Sketch is drawn on the canvas

Now the artist starts to draw the subject of the painting on the canvas using the actual charcoal or a charcoal pencil. Sometimes, he may sketch with thinned paint as well.
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Oil paint is applied using paint brushes or palette knives

Now that the rough sketch is prepared, the artist is now ready to paint. Oil paint, a special paint that contains particles of pigments suspended in a drying oil (usually linseed oil), is again mixed with oil to make it thinner for applying it on the canvas. Proper consistency of the paint is maintained to avoid its breakage. The most important rule for the application of oil paint is “Fat over lean” in which the first layer of paint is thin and later, thicker layers are applied. This means that each additional layer of paint contains more oil. This results in getting a stable paint film. Traditionally, paint was applied using paint brushes but now the artists also use palette knives to create crisp strokes. To paint using this technique, the edge of the palette knife is used to create textured strokes that appear different from that of a paintbrush. Sometimes, oil paints are blended simply using fingers for getting the desired gradation.
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Smaller oil paintings, with very fine detail, are relatively easier to paint than larger ones. The most attractive feature of these paintings is the natural shiny appearance that is obtained on the surface because of the use of oil paint. The blending of colors looks extremely realistic and this is the reason why oil paintings are loved by everyone throughout the world.
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