Handpainted – Tree of Life in Teal at Night

Provenance

'Tree of Life in Teal at Night' is a painting of a great flowering tree glowing against a black ground. The tree as a source of abundance is a recurring motif in Indian painting, and the dark background here turns it into a nocturnal scene, with every leaf standing out like a point of light.

A teal trunk rises from spreading roots and divides into countless branches carrying small blue leaves, with orange butterflies or blossoms scattered through the canopy. Green parakeets and white birds fly at the edges, small grey clouds drift across the top, and clusters of white flowers grow from the dark ground at the foot of the tree. A yellow and red patterned inner border and an outer border of blue and green motifs frame the scene.

Teal, sky blue and black dominate, with orange and yellow as warm, scattered accents. The leaves are built from tiny, repeated dabs of colour, giving the canopy a fine, almost embroidered texture. It is a striking, quiet painting for a bedroom, a study or a dark-walled room.