Water colours on fabric-based canvases are endemic to India’s folk art tradition. On an ivory-coloured strip of tussar, the artist wields a rudimentary brush dipped in homemade pigments. He divides the canvas into multiple panels: an elongated one at the centre with a curved upper edge, and a series of miniscule circular ones along its edges.
The chaturbhujadhari nrtya Ganesha dances within the central panel. Ample line and curve and gradient convey a depth of detail and dynamism. From the angle of His brow to the contortion of His torso and the stance of His limbs, such an expressive Ganesha is hard to find. His feet patter against a plinth that resembles a percussion instrument, next to which stands His vahana, the mouse.
The circular panels surrounding this one feature Ganesha in varying stances of nrtya. They are all chaturbhujadhari and are facing sideways, in alternate directions. The spaces punctuating the panels are filled in with dense brushwork executed on a minute scale, yet with great precision and symmetry of shape as well as proportion.
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