Tribal Art Feature : Gond Paintings

An art form i have not come across as often before as off late. Not sure if it was my ignorance all this while or the new found popularity of the Gond paintings these days. I've recently seen them a lot at online galleries and even as collections in some art stores. Well, nonetheless i decided to explore it a bit and share it here. 

Gond paintings are freehand expressions of the gond tribe in Madhya Pradesh (a state in Central India).  Highly creative and imaginative, this community derives positive energy by surrounding itself with color and art inspired from nature and everyday living. The child like simplicity of these art works reflect the community's very own straightforwardness and simplicity. 

Characteristically these paintings are reflections of the tribes fantasies towards nature, forest and trees. Use of stripes, dots or any other geometric pattern to fill up various forms, is another character typical to this style of freehand art. Most of these paintings have multiple but very contrasting use of bright and lively colors. 

Originally, the Gond paintings were made only on walls and floors. These served ritualistic purposes as well as kept the surroundings harmonious and pure. Drawn during festivals or rituals connected with seasonal changes like sowing of crops, onset of rains, harvest or on a significant occasion in their families such as birth, marriage, pregnancy, death etc. 

With modernization, these paintings are now made for commercial purposes and i found them being sold at an average rate of about £200 on this site - although this may not be a definitive conclusion of the value of this art, but it's increasing popularity does not leave me any short of believing it!

The play of colors is so brilliant! Click on the image for a link to more of these beautiful pieces. Also, there is this other cool website that actually lists all the artists by name with a small description of their individual work. So many of them have the same second names indicative of art that must have been inherited from ancestors to entire families from brothers and sisters to husbands and wives. Imagine the whole family sitting together and soaking in color!