Handpainted – Matisse-Inspired – Ganesha Janani

Provenance

'Ganesha Janani' is a painting of Ganesha and his mother Parvati, drawn with the swelling curves and cut-out-like leaves of Henri Matisse's late work. Parvati bends over the child in her lap, and both are swept into a swirl of red, green and gold shapes. The subject belongs to Indian devotional imagery, while the flat, rhythmic treatment is Matisse-inspired, so the tenderness of mother and child is carried by shape and colour rather than detail.

Parvati has closed eyes, a red bindi, a gold earring, a bangle and long dark hair that flows into green leaf-like forms. She cradles the small, cream-coloured Ganesha, who has an elephant's head, a golden crown topped with a flame-like shape and a raised hand. Around them, the red of her sari and the petals of a golden lotus fold into one another, and a few bright flame-shaped marks cross the lower left.

Vermilion, emerald, saffron and cream circulate through the picture in long, overlapping curves. Each colour is laid down as a flat shape, outlined by thin cream gaps rather than dark lines, and the painted surface keeps the soft, slightly dry edge of a brush. The curves make the pair a single, calm form at the heart of the composition. Warm and cool colours alternate across the page, which keeps the swirling composition from feeling crowded.