The Portrait of a Begum

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This large canvas, rendered in oil, besides portraying the likeness of a begum, represents a true picture of the lifestyle of Islamic royalty of the period from around the mid nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the extravagance that always characterised it. The lady it portrays is obviously a begum from a medieval Islamic court, perhaps Murshidabad, some Muslim state in Bengal, or eastern India for the style of putting on at least her outer wear still has its traces in costume-styles of those parts of the land. Despite that the posture, with the figure’s feet turned leftwards, neck and head tilted to right, and eyes, again to left, giving it a rhythmic curve, appears to be formal, the portrait is quite realistic, if not informal, for it realistically shoots its subject. Even her formal style of costume, being an element prevalent as part of the real lifestyle of those days feudatory, not Islamic alone but also Rajput, and not the artist’s creation, does not adversely affect his realistic approach.

With her tilted figure, vibrant with rhythm and endowed with the beauty of form, as if giving a formal posture, the artist has caught on his canvas the begum holding her veil – a white sheet, with her left hand, while with the right, carrying her chaadara, a many meters long semi-stitched length of textiles, obviously one of silk, embellished fabulously with gold and silver embroidery and zardozi. This outer wear – veil and chaadara, alternates the usual burqa, an essential component of the ensemble of Muslim womenfolk. The chaadara, in black, the prescribed colour of a burqa, has been embellished on borders with five courses of gold zari and silk embroidery, and its part covering the forehead, with precious stones. Worn covering the entire back and a large part of the front, its two ends are collected in the right hand in such manner that its lower ends and edges gain a stepped rise looking like a gradually rising rampart of a fort and reveal exceptional beauty.

The begum is wearing a yellow garara – a pajama with lehanga-like broad bottoms, painted with flower-and-leaf motifs and embroidered with gold thread dividing the breadth with vertical courses of thick gold lines. Its bottoms are embroidered lavishly using rubies, emeralds, beads and gold thread. Besides a light blue inner tunic she is wearing a full-sleeved upper garment, a tight blouse-like ensemble, designed with maroon and blue stripes and with fabulous gems, especially its sleeves’ bottoms and breasts-pieces, further beautified by a couple of wheel-like projecting bracelets and rich armlets designed with gold, emeralds and rubies. Besides a gold neck-ornament inlaid with a large ruby in the centre and smaller ones and emeralds around it, she is wearing a large ‘satalada’ – a seven-stringed necklace, on her breast.

This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of literature and is the author of numerous books on Indian art and culture. Dr. Daljeet is the curator of the Miniature Painting Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi. They have both collaborated together on a number of books.

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Oil painting technique – India centric

Oil painting is the most interesting technique in art. Unlike other paintings or art forms, oil painting is a process in which colored pigments are painted on the canvas with a drying oil medium as a binder. This medium helps colors blend beautifully to create layers and also makes them appear rich and dense. Several varieties of oil are used in this painting such as sunflower oil, linseed oil, etc., and depending on the quality of the oil, a particular consistency of the paint is developed. With the use of an oil medium, the painting gets a natural sheen on the surface which appears extremely attractive. India is famous for its old tradition of making oil paintings. This art form was brought by Europeans in the 18th century and is now practiced by almost all well-known artists. Nirmal, a small tribal town in the state of Telangana is the center of traditional oil paintings in India where the local people practice it with dedication. Most Indian artists still use the traditional technique of oil painting.

Canvas of the required size is prepared

The artists use either a wood panel or canvas made from linen or cotton. Sometimes the canvas is stretched onto the wooden frame to form a solid base, or cardboard may be used. The canvas is coated with a layer of white paint or chalk mixed with animal glue. This mixture is then smoothed and dried to form a uniform, textured surface. The wooden panel is more expensive and heavier but its solidity is an advantage in making detailed paintings with ease.

Sketch is drawn on the canvas

Now the artist starts to draw the subject of the painting on the canvas using the actual charcoal or a charcoal pencil. Sometimes, he may sketch with thinned paint as well.

Oil paint is applied using paint brushes or palette knives

Now that the rough sketch is prepared, the artist is now ready to paint. Oil paint, a special paint that contains particles of pigments suspended in a drying oil (usually linseed oil), is again mixed with oil to make it thinner for applying it on the canvas. Proper consistency of the paint is maintained to avoid its breakage. The most important rule for the application of oil paint is “Fat over lean” in which the first layer of paint is thin and later, thicker layers are applied. This means that each additional layer of paint contains more oil. This results in getting a stable paint film. Traditionally, paint was applied using paint brushes but now the artists also use palette knives to create crisp strokes. To paint using this technique, the edge of the palette knife is used to create textured strokes that appear different from that of a paintbrush. Sometimes, oil paints are blended simply using fingers for getting the desired gradation.

Smaller oil paintings, with very fine detail, are relatively easier to paint than larger ones. The most attractive feature of these paintings is the natural shiny appearance that is obtained on the surface because of the use of oil paint. The blending of colors looks extremely realistic and this is the reason why oil paintings are loved by everyone throughout the world.