Divineflowers #1109 is a painting by Baljit Chadha which was uploaded on May 28th, 2012.
Divineflowers #1109
A Rose is a Rose is a Rose is a Rose
(Gertrude Stein, from the poem Sweet Emily, Geography and Plays, 1913)
A contemporary, timeless... more
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Dimensions
10.000 x 13.000 inches
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Title
Divineflowers #1109
Artist
Baljit Chadha
Medium
Painting - Mixmedia On Paper
Description
A Rose is a Rose is a Rose is a Rose
(Gertrude Stein, from the poem Sweet Emily, Geography and Plays, 1913)
A contemporary, timeless perspective of a subject dearly beloved to artists, poets,
horticulturalists and beings throughout epochs, flora depictions range from botanical
illustration (for example, the German Baroque naturalist and illustrator Maria Sybill
Merian, d. 1717) to Old Master still-lives, from illuminated manuscripts and miniature
paintings, to classic East Asian ink paintings, to Surrealism, Fauvism, to pop-art and
graphic media. Flowers have always fascinated artists owing to their pureness, and
provided a wonderful way for them to express themselves. Traditionally, flowers in life
and in art imbue their appreciators with symbolic sense. The still-life in this day and age
has lost much of its memento mori or vanitas meaning, and many contemporary artists
shallowly forsake the intense discipline and attention to detail required by this genre for
mere technical slights of hand and machine. Fortunately, there are still devotees of the
love for the rose!
FLOAT ON COLORS
In the floral work of Baljit Chadha, his pathway began with basic flowers, in pen and
ink due to the inspiration of classic sumi-e (ink painting) during his sojourn in Japan.
He understood this as the simple, basic embrace of nature –“to pluck a flower and paint
it!” Pursuing this spirit further, he declares that “I do not believe in straight lines, rather
a spontaneous use of colour.” He is more known in artistic circles to date in India for
his abstract paintings. This series, thus introduces his 11,000 flower oeuvres. Earlier
he added colour and then fexicol to bind the ink. Currently, he has incorporated the
following materials into his process: watercolour, acrylic paint, as well as oil and wax
pastels. This melange enables a broader depiction of the living element of his floral
subjects, such that these blossoms spring to life off the standard sized Chinese imported
paper upon which he steadfastly works.
From the most mannered to the most abstract, passing through each field, medium,
technique, genre and school of painting, the realms of flora bespeak individual
expression. Such iconic images abound as the Iris and the Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh
(1853-1890), the Water Lilies of Claude Monet (1840-1926), the pop art flowers based on
photographs with a simple motif by Andy Warhol (1928-1987), and fecund depictions
by Georgia O’Keefe (1887-1986) who synthesized abstraction and representation in her
myriad paintings of natural elements.
One of the great painters of flowers, the Belgian painter Pierre-Joseph Redoute (1759-
1840), court painter for Marie Antoinette, eventually emphasized the aesthetic over
botanical accuracy or depiction, having been inspired by the Dutch masters (Jan
Breughel and Rachel Ruysch). Ruysch (1644-1750) was the most celebrated classical
female flower painter. [For reference, the seminal tomes by Sam Segal of Flowers and
Nature: Netherlandish Flower Painting of Four Centuries (1991) and Jan van Huysum, 1682-1749:
The Temptation of Flora (2007)]
In China, bird and flower painting constituted a special genre from the 9th century
onwards, rising to great levels in the Song dynasty (960-1279 A.D.). It heralded a
marvellous deployment of ink and brush. The individual finesse of the artist conveyed
the spirit (qi) of plum blossoms, peonies, chrysanthemums, bamboo, pines and cypresses,
each symbolic of aspects of existence.
In 2004, the BBC Four hosted a four part series entitled Painting Flowers examined
personal artistic themes associated with different species/genres of flora. The following
year, the Flower Myth exhibition in Switzerland at the Fondation Beyeler examined the
evolving approach to floral representation from the late 19th century to the present day.
Ulf Küster, one of the two curators of the exhibition, maintains that "Any painter reveals
his true self by painting flowers.”
Chadha incorporates his personal embrace of abstraction within the depiction of
the ‘divine flower’. Thereby extending the spatial component and fertilising the
surrounding air with colour and stroke. His idiosyncratic method, reminiscent of spin/
action painting, is to squeeze the paint from plastic bottles.
A pansy, gladiolas, lilies, asters, hyacinth, to cite but a few, each painting is unique.
In spirit they are homage to Chadha’s passion to paint. Just as for the Old Master
painters of still-lives and floral subjects, each flower imparts his personal connection
and interpretation. The Mother of the Sri Aurobindo Society also penned a tome on
the significance and meaning of flowers. Chadha earlier had photographed flowers all
over the world, as part of his journeys and daily life. The kinetic nature of his paintings
departs from the photographic lens.
In consideration of the palette and use of materials, Chadha’s works bear a shimmering
sensibility akin to that of stained glass, a sort of translucence reflecting his rhythm of life.
One which he shares with the facets of nature he so consecrates on a daily basis, a true
immersion in this realm of his natural imagination.
For Chadha, this lexicon of intimate and universal beauty celebrates the diversity and
complex, ever startling web of interconnectivity of life. At its core, a true marvelling of
the adavaita, non-duality of humanity and the natural world which surrounds us, one
which we must heed to protect and admire.
Elizabeth Rogers
February 2011
Uploaded
May 28th, 2012
More from Baljit Chadha
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