Tuesday 18 March 2014

Villagers around Bonfire

Villagers around Bonfire

by Nainsukh. Guler School
1765-75 AD

       This is by far Nainsukh's most daring work, both thematically and stylistically.  Nainsukh explores a new theme of villagers enjoying a bonfire on a wintery night. Villagers of different ages have gathered to gossip, the exchange news, to tell stories, to enjoy the ''hooka" after having finished their daily work. A woman, on the right side, framed by a door, listens to the conversations.  She can overhear it, but not join in. It's a man's world.
          Unlike the Western art, Indian art does not deal with the element of light in paintings. But here Nainsukh dramatically plays on the strong light and dark, on the flickering shadows cast by the bonfire.  The light flickers over the figures,  over the trees, over the walls. From inside the house, light also burns but in a more subdued form. The starry night is beautifully painted.
          This is, indeed, one of the best Guler miniature. For Nainsukh has proven his ability to break through the conventional style of painting and to think out of the box.

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