Kumkum Paintings

Welcome To Kumkum Gallery

Perfect for decorating your interiors and gifts for all occasions

History Of The Art

The Tanjore School of Paintings dates back to the 16th century.
Tanjore or Thanjavur as it is called today acquired its name from the ancient pronunciation of the
place, which was then called "Thanjavoor". It was then the capital of the mighty Chola Empire.
The Chola rulers besides being great warriors were builders of magnificent temples and great patrons
of arts. It was against this setting that this highly specialised form of art with its characteristically
beautiful ornamental relief work flourished.

The Tanjore School of Paintings dates back to the 16th century.

The Creation Of The Paintings
Creating a Tanjore painting involves dedication and are made by skilled artisans with meticulous
care, immaculate precision and enormous patience. And a painting takes 2-4 weeks to be
completed.

The creation of this painting involves a lot of dedication and several stages of meticulous work of art.
The first step involves creating a base. The base is made of a cloth pasted over a wooden or a
plywood base. Then a paste of chalk powder or zinc oxide mixed with some water-soluble adhesive
is applied on the board. To create a smoother board a mild abrasive can be used.

After this begins the image making process. A preliminary sketch of the God is made on the board.
After the drawing is made, decoration of the jewellery and the apparel is done with semi-precious
stones. Semi-relief work is done with a paste of chalk powder and gum Arabic.On top of this, the
gold foils are pasted.
Finally, dyes are used to add vibrant colors to the figures in the paintings. A beautiful frame is
then selected to accentuate the beauty of the painting.

The Paintings
The paintings are mostly of Gods and Goddesses because this art of painting flourished at a time
when fine-looking and striking temples were being constructed by rulers of several dynasties.
The figures in these paintings are large and the faces are round and divine. However, with the rebirth
of this art in the 20th century, artists in addition to recreating the original Tanjore figures are also
experimenting with more proportioned figures, birds, flowers, animals, etc.

The paintings are notable for their adornment in the form of semi-precious stones, pearls, glass
pieces and gold. The rich vibrant colours, dashes of gold, semi-precious stones and fine artistic work
are characteristics of these paintings.
They add beauty and culture to a variety of surroundings and decor.