Paintings of Tanjore & Mysore

Beyond South India, few knew about the paintings of Tanjore and Mysore schools; for, they were meant more for worship and less for display. An exhibition of some of these paintings in the U.S.S.R. has given a fillip for study and documentation of these paintings, now highly popular with collectors. This book discusses at length the theme, composition, style and technique peculiar to these two schools of painting and its relation to the two traditional schools of Indian paintings, i.e. wall paintings and miniatures. Sixty paintings, (thirty from each school) are chosen for illustration. The narrative and important aspects of each painting is given alongside each illustration. Collectors, artists and scholars shall find this book very useful; for it sheds light on how the currents of history sweeping over India during the 18th and 19th centuries affected these two backwater regions resulting in the origin, growth and decay of thse two schools of paintings.

Side-affects of historical forces are more fascinating than the direct effects. A case in point is the South Indian Paintings of Tanjore and Mysore schools. Very little was known outside the regions about these two schools; for these paintings were more for worship and less for display. The period in which these two schools came into prominence, i.e. 18th & 19th centuries was indeed one of turmoil. An alien race, the English, had almost subdued the Indian rulers -the Mughals and the Marathas. In this dark period the populace had none but gods to alleviate their misery. The Tan) ore painters rose to the need of the hour. They painted gods, specially the lilas of the child Krsna and brought hope, light and joy to every hearth.

About the Authors

Awarded by the Hon'ble President of India, and presently Keeper, Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. He was born in village Khimalasa of district Sagar, M.P. in 1933. He is an alumnus of the College of Art, New Delhi. He joined the National Gallery of Modern Art in 1972 and immediately took over as Curator, hall of Nation Builders: National Gallery of Portraits, New Delhi. Later took over as Keeper in the Salarjung Museum, Hyderabad His dedicated services were widely appreciated and hence he was chosen to represent India under the cultural exchange programmes several times. Be- cause of experience and knowledge, he was chosen as the Curator for the Festival of India for U.S.A and France. He has traveled widely abroad and has visited all the important museums of the world. He has organised one-man shows of his paintings and has been regularly contributing articles on art in reputed magazines. In addition to the above, he wrote four monographs in two languages, Hindi and English, on (1) Nicholas Roerich (1978), (2) Boris Georgiev (1980), (3) Rabindra Nath Tagore (1980) and (4) Amrita Shergil (1982). As a joint venture he produced (5) a portfolio on Rajasthan miniatures (19g6). His book in Hindi on (6) Rasikapriya (198g), which was released by the Hon'ble Vice President of India, is widely known. This book (7) on Tanjore and Mysore paintings is a new venture for him due to the kind encouragement of the President of India and the Lt. Governor of Delhi. (8) Translating books on Dr. Zakir Hussain: His life and (9) Paintings of the Baburnama in Hindi.

Dr. Daljeet

Dy. Keeper, Painting Department of the National Museum She became interested in Indian Paintings during her post- graduate days in Jiwaji University. This led her to the study of Central Indian Paintings (Malwa and Bundelkhand), which earned her a Ph.D. from Bhopal University. She has visited important museums in Europe, England and Russia for comparative study of paintings. She has been regularly contributing articles jointly with Shri Yyas on Miniature Paintings in reputed magazines. Her researches have culminated in five books, which are (I) Splendour of Malwa paintings (1983), (2) Indian Miniatures from Rajasthan a joint venture (A Portfolio -[986), (3) Classical Indian Art -Indian Miniature Paintings, a catalogue in Russian (1987), (4) Tanjore and Mysore Schools of Painting, a catalogue in Russian (1987) and (5) The Glory of Indian Miniatures (1988).

Contents:

Foreword 
Preface
Introduction

1.  Rama Pattabhiseka
2.  Rama Pattabhiseka
3.  Venkatesvara
4.  Kanchi Varadarajasvami
5.  Sva dancing Sandhya Tandava
6.  Gayatri
7.  Ganesa
8.  Girija and Sita Kalyanam
9.  Uma Maheshvara
10. Dakshinamurti
11. Gaja Lakshmi
12. Panchamukha Siva
13. Kasyapa worshipping Kamadhenu
14. Loed Siva as dancing Nataraja
15. Punchamukha Hanuman
16. Lord Venkatesvara of Tirupati
17. Krsna uproots Arjun Trees
18. Vasistha worshipping Kamdhenu
19. A scene from RaMayana
20. Navaeeta Krsna
21. Krsna with his queen
22. Equestrain portrait of Shivaji
23. The assembly of Gods
24. Navneet Krsna
25. Siva dancing
26. Sri Ranganatha-Sesasayi Visnu
27. Krsna with mother Yasoda
28. Four Saivite Saints
29. Siva dancing
30. Vrisbharudha Siva and Parvati
31. Rama Pattabhiseka
32. Tripura Samhara
33. Rama Pattabhiseka
34. Arjuna and Karna's fight
35. Ramanuj
36. Karttikey
37. Four Saivite saints
38. Mother Yasoda and child Krsna
39. Govardhana Giridhari
40. Coronation of Pandava prince
41. Navneeta Krsna
42. Siddhi Vinayaka
43. Goddess Sarasvati
44. Chamundesvari
45. Vaman avatar
46. Andal
47. Samudra-Manthana
48. Worship of Siva and Parvati
49. Lakshmi (Kamala)
50. Krsna with eight consorts
51. Mahadevi & Kalika
52. Gitopadesa
53. Dasavatara
54. Crawling Krsna
55. Krsna with eight Goddesses
56. Kamesvari-Kamesavara
57. Vaikuntha Narayana
58. Ganesa riding on a mouse
59. Kiratarjuniya
60. Technique of Tanjore painting

    Glossary
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