Tanjore painting is a very old art form has its dates back to 1600 AD. Tanjore painting is classical South Indian painting and its started from a town called Tanjavur in Tamil nadu. In the period 100 AD art forms, literature and dance were very much encouraged. Tanjore paintings are known for its richness in color and and the material used. They are of vivid colors with rich stone and gold zari work.The style was dominated by devotional icons of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, and saints.
This form is technically considered panel paintings because they were done on smoothed frames of wood and feature a very tight composition depicting a central figure or figures. These paintings are much sought for souvenir during festival season. It is a famous art farom of Southern India. Used to decorate walls.
How Tanjore paintings are made: This involves many stages. First the base is prepared. A wooden plank is pasted with cloth . Sketch of the images is made on the base .Then chalk powder or Zink oxide is mixed with adhesives and applied. Then the process is for making the base more smother. Some abrasives are used for this. The drawing is made and the jewellaries are decorated with zari threads, Jaipur stones, laces. Finally the painting is colored.
High quality gold foil is used to ensure the paintings last generations and becomes family heirlooms. They generally appreciate in value and are considered collectibles. Paintings come in three finishes, Classic, Antinque Style and Embossed. In the classic finish, bold colors and striking backgrounds are combined with high glitter gold foil, while in the antique style, the gold’s glitter is more sober with more subtle colors and plain backgrounds. The emboss paintings are similar to the classic style but are super embossed to bring about more depth.