Kalighat Inspired by Indian Mythology (Image: painting is a school of modern art that originated in 19th century Calcutta, India, which was then the capital of British India. Made on mostly cloth or paper scrolls, Kalighat paintings are so named due to the thriving settlement of the patuas or cloth-painters around the temples of Kali at Kalighat in Kolkatta. The theme of these paintings were mostly mythological characters that later evolved to civil life in Calcutta along with other secular and contemporary themes.
The brushwork on these paintings are deemed by experts as deft, seamless, flowing and one of the smoothest art forms in India. BackgroundThe earliest form of art in Bengal was done on cloth or patas and even paper scrolls depicting scenes from Hindu religious epics like the Rama Charita Manas. In order to increase the customer base for their art form, the patuas moved to the urban center of Calcutta.
Their move to settle around the temples, especially Kalighat Temple, was deliberate because this is where the themes of their art were most appreciated. Since Kalighat Temple was a popular religious destination, people would buy Kalighat paintings during their regular visits. During festivals, the painters would create paintings with a special theme, which was again very popular with the temple goers. The specific genre of Kalighat paintings is believed to have originated around 1850 in India.One of the most famous art historians in India, Jyotindra Jain believes that there was no separate community of artists and artisans that were invested in the creation of the Kalighat paintings.
These paintings, in fact, were made by artisans of different professions such as potters, stoneworkers, and carpenters.Simultaneously, Calcutta was slowly undergoing changes in its education system under the British rule and had begun to recognize fine art as a mainstream field of study. This motivated artists to move to the city and learn newer techniques and appreciate modern themes, the influence of which can be seen in the later Kalighat paintings. Hence emerged two different styles of the Kalighat painting, the Oriental, and the Occidental, both of which were popular in the country. Materials UsedAlthough it is obvious that there would have first been a sketch and an outline and eventually the filling of the motif, it is interesting to learn about the unconventional tools used to make these paintings. Squirrel and goat hair was used to make the brush that was used for sketch drawings.
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The black ink used for this purpose was made using soot produced by burning an oil lamp under a pot. The other vibrant colors used for filling the painting were essentially homemade in the form of either vegetable dyes or powdered stone fragments of different colors.
The dry colors would be mixed with either gum or water to create paint fit to be used on paper and textile.With the onset of industrial revolution in India however, the colors that were used were industrially produced along with the canvas. Kalighat Painting Inspired by Civil Life (Image: The MakingDue to the era in which Kalighat paintings were born, they were created with natural dyes and on easily available materials such as cloth and scrolls. What is interesting about the Kalighat paintings is that an entire family would be involved in the creation of the piece. Each member of the family had a particular task in the creation process, based on sex and age.
Economically, this translated as being one of the biggest cottage industries in West Bengal at the time. The women and children in the family are responsible for grinding the colors and creating the dyes. Other responsibilities included marking the outline in pencil and generally making all preparations for the painting. The first of the artists would copy only the outline of the sketch onto the canvas from the model sketch. A second artist would then draw and color the contours of the figures, as they were always human figures. The flesh would be depicted in a lighter shade than the muscles.
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The last among the artists would fill in the surrounding colors in the motif as well as the backdrop along with the final outline done in black.VarietyThe main distinguishing facet of the Kalighat paintings is the motifs used in them. Due to this, there are two types of Kalighat paintings that one can witness, Oriental and Occidental.The Oriental Kalighat paintings depict gods, goddesses, mythological characters as well as scenes from religious Hindu texts.