Radhika painting by m.a.r. chughtai

 Radhika

There are always hidden meanings behind every painting, but it's really hard to reveal. Don't worry we are here to help you with that. So let's start with one of the most beautiful paintings Radhika.

The article was written by - Neha Kumari

Radhika Painting

Title: Radhika

Artist: M. A. R. CHUGHTAI

Circa: 1899-1975

Object type: watercolor wash and Tempera              
                      on Paper.
                     
Dimensions: height (50cm) width (44cm)

Collection: National Gallery of Modern Art,
                     New Delhi

"Details about this painting"

Radhika is one of the beautiful wash paintings of M.A.R. CHUGHTAI. In this painting, a very delicate Indian lady is shown coming out of her room.
Her face is profile, the head is down, eyes are in graceful look with sharp eyebrows, her hairs are in black brown combination reaching up to her back that looks so realistic and ornaments in her neck also with earnings.

Her left foot is in a forwarding Direction. She is holding Lotus flowers in her both hands, her left hand is near her face and her right hand hanging down holding the Lotus, the artist has also shown a honeybee on the right-handed Lotus, She also has red bangles in both of her hands and rings in her fingers.

She is wearing a light purple lehenga with dark blue prints, red blouse, and yellow odhani with a brown border and also a well-finished pearl necklace with pendant and thread necklace along with a beautiful pendant
This means the artist has given every single detail of ornaments of the lady and depicted it beautifully.

In the background a lamp is painted by the artist along with a lampshade, that looks like a royal golden lamp with every single details
We can clearly see the flame and burning smoke. A small umbrella-shaped jhumer is also painted by the artist on the lamp and a chain of the lamp is hanging to the floor.

The background is made Beautiful by the fusion of red yellow and black colors. The whole composition is giving a beautiful impression due to its rhythmic form and flexibility. Now it is a collection of National Gallery of Modern Art New Delhi.

"What is Wash technique of painting"

It is a technique in which the brush used to be very wet along with the paper and the wet brush carries a small amount of paint or ink giving a blur shady look to the painting. Basically, it is using a large amount of solvent with little paint.

"About the Artist"

M.A.R. CHUGHTAI was a gifted artist of the Indian Renaissance. After the Indo- Pak partition he becomes Pakistan's foremost artist. He was born on "September 21, 1899" at "Lahore" in the family of renowned Mughal architects who designed the layouts of "Taj Mahal", "Red Fort" and "Jama Masjid" during the reign of Mughal emperor Shahjahan. His father wanted him to be an engineer. Chughtai himself choose painting as his career.

He took admission to the Mayo school of art, Lahor in 1911. After completing his study he joined as a teacher in the litho department of the same institution in 1916. Then he went to London to learn printmaking. But the European style of painting didn't impress him so he returned and joined "Bengal school" under Abanindranath Tagore. He learned wash painting from the Ukil brothers Delhi. After that, he left Bengal school but made valiant efforts to keep the traditions of Indian art alive. He painted beauty and romance of traditional Indian miniature examples Rajasthani, Pahadi, Mughal and Ajanta, etc in the wash and temperate technique.
His style displays a strong sense of line, scale, and form. Merely he was a figurative painter. Many of his paintings are much larger in size than Mughal miniature. He was perfect in the technique of delicate drawing and coloring.

"Main Features of Bengal school"

The pillars of Bengal school were full of Indian traditions. Therefore, the linear delicacy, rhythm, and grace of Ajanta and bagh are clearly visible in paintings of this school. The artists of Bengal school learned a lot from Indian traditional art, Chinese and Japanese art. Their prepared mediums were watercolor, Tempera and ink.  The subject matters on which Bengal school painters painted were historical, religious, literacy, social landscape, etc. The Bengal School brought the renaissance and attached the attention of the world towards the Heritage of Indian art. The wash technique was the original indigenous style of this school.

Conclusion:

In the above paragraph, we have tried to give you complete information about the painting and important information related to "Radhika" that is introduction, key features of the painting, what is wash technique of painting, about the artist, and the feature of Bengal school. If you liked our article then please let us know, 

Thank you.

The article was written by - Neha Kumari