Oil Painting On Canvas Semi Abstract, 1998 India Art

A 1998 semi abstract oil painting on canvas done by palette knife painting. This attractive European themed painting was done by an Indian lady by the name of Poonam Southey. A self-taught artist, her painting tools are brushes and palette knife. She was much inspired by European old masters, and currently her major works are based on European and Indian themes.

Indian women artists were no less in the forefront of modern Indian art. By using various mediums they have achieved tremendous strides in the art scene post independence. Some of them were Anjolie Ela Menon, B. Prabha, Nalini Malini, Arpita Singh, Nasreen Mohamedi…The presence of British and European colonialists in the 18th and 19th centuries created a new school of art altogether. That came to be known as the “Company” School (probably referring to East India Company and Dutch East India Company).

The paintings of the said Company school where mainly done by British military and civil service officers of European descent. The Company school depicted traditional scenes such as India’s village scene, people, landscapes, monuments, and so on, albeit in a European perspective. During the final phase of colonial rule in India saw the emergence of a great Indian artist: Raja Ravi Varma. Who changed the face of Indian art by his self taught method of incorporating European realism on Indian mythological subjects.