Vijaya Ganapathi Arts and Crafts

• Artist Profile• About Tanjore paintings• About Mysore paintings• Painting gallery• Painting techniques• Contact information 

ARTIST PROFILE

• Mrs. V N Vijaya Rao is a resident of Mangadu, near Chennai, India. From her childhood she showed interest in free hand drawings and rangoli.

• Mrs.Rao’s great inclination for the art blossomed while at Bangalore in the nineties where she got an opportunity to learn the traditional painting styles of Tanjore & Mysore, which she pursued from then on. 

• One of her most challenging work was a painting in Tanjore style a 6’x 4’ painting of Panduranga for Vittaladasa Sri Jayakrishna Dikshithar’s Panduranga Mandali (based at Kumbakonam) Presently, she is in Hyderabad and continuing with her childhood desire of painting. She also undertakes teaching the art to those interested.

TANJORE PAINTINGS• The Marathas, who ruled Tanjore in the 18th and 19th

centuries, adapted the Deccan style of painting to the local Nayak style and created the glittering Tanjore School of painting. In these paintings, done in pure colors on wood, glass, mica, or ivory, the characters tend to be pale and flat and the principles disproportionate to the setting. But the architectural features, jewellery, drapery, and other embellishments are the striking features. 

• They are all slightly raised by a paste packing, composed of fine saw dust and glue, and covered with gold leaf, semi precious stones and glass beads, giving the paintings their glitter. By shading the inner side of the contours a stylized modeling is achieved. The themes are generally religious- deities of the Hindu pantheon- scenes from the life of Krishna, being the most popular subjects.

• (Tanjore is in the south of Chennai City, capital of the state of Tamil Nadu, in India.)

MYSORE PAINTINGS • The Hindu royal family who ruled Mysore in the 18th century

revived the traditional art of creating beautifully decorated paintings of Hindu mythology, gods and epic heroes as well as scenes of court life and battle. The Mysore paintings are known for their grace, beauty, and variety of subjects.

 • The faces of the Gods and ordinary men in the Mysore

paintings appear to be rounded, but upon closer observation a distinction can be made. Where in the face of the main deity is slightly different from that of others. These paintings also depict the 17th and 18th century architecture of Mysore.

 • (Mysore in south of Bangalore city, the capital of the state of

Karnataka in India.) 

PAINTING PROCEDURE 

• The procedure for drawing a traditional painting in Tanjore and Mysore style, both begin with the preparation of the ground, which could be paper pasted on a water proof- 4mm ply board or a piece of cloth pasted on a 6mm water proof board. The cloth is followed by three coatings of a base solution. Once dry the surface is rendered smooth. A sketch of the picture to be drawn is then made. Those areas in the painting which need to be covered with gold are embossed using a special paste according to the shape design. Normally jewels worn by the figures/ characters in the paintings, pillars, arches, ornate dresses, etc are embossed. Artificial stones and colored semiprecious stones are embedded in the paintings during the embossing process. This is done only for the paintings in the Tanjore style. For the paintings in the Mysore style the stones and beads are painted skillfully on to the picture. Once the embossed area is dry “Gesso Work” is commenced.

 • In both Tanjore and Mysore schools, the “Gesso Work” or the gold

covering work, is the basic aspect. The difference between the art forms is that in Mysore Paintings, pure gold foils are used where as in Tanjore style, silver foils dipped in gold is used. The painters mixed colors based on ancient text- the ingredients consisting of minerals, leaves and flowers of certain plants. Lastly, as per tradition an auspicious time is chosen for opening the eyes of the figures.

Exhibitions

• Mrs. Vijayaa Rao has exhibited her painting works under various banners.

• Mahila Shakti Exhibition, 1995, sponsored by Central Social Welfare Board, New Delhi, conducted by , Andhra Pradesh, State Social Welfare Advisory Board.

• Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bangalore, 1997, under the aegis of Chitra Kala Parishad, Bangalore.

• Landmark Center, Minneapolis, USA in 2000. (While in the US, Mrs.Rao also held Tanjore painting classes for interested students of the University of Minnesota)

• Lioness Club of Thane, 2001 (Also taught Tanjore & Mysore paintings in Thane)

• In 2001, The Department of Culture, Government of India, held an art exhibition at New Delhi, where 2 of Mrs. Rao’s paintings were selected for display (Rajarajeshwari & Rama Pattabhishekam)

 

CONTACT DETAILS• Mrs. Rao takes orders for sale of her paintings .• The artworks will be delivered with frame and glass. (Unless

specified otherwise).• Payments must be through bank drafts only.• Orders received by e-mail or over the phone will be considered

confirmed only on receiving fifty percent of the cost of the painting.

• Six to eight weeks required for delivery.

• Contact address: • V N Vijaya Rao• 101, Padmaja Plaza, • 10-2-252, Street No: 5,• West Marredpally,• Secunderabad 500026• Andhra Pradesh, India • Tel: 91-40-27804964• E-mail: vijayaa_g@hotmail.com

Painting gallerySaraswathi- Mysore painting

Painting gallery Aalai elai Krishna----Tanjore painting

Painting galleryKamakshi---Tanjore painting

Painting gallery yesodha krishna---Mysore style

Painting gallery Murugan----Tanjore painting

Painting gallery Varalakshmi----Tanjore painting

Painting gallery Rajarajeswari---Mysore style

Painting gallery Rama Pattabhishekam----Tanjore painting

Painting gallery Skandha----Tanjore painting

Painting gallery sriman narayanan---Mysore style

Painting gallery hanuman----Tanjore painting

Painting gallery balaji---Tanjore painting