Admirer of Paul Raj Paintings

My photo
Paul was born in Kodaikanal on 22 September 1914 and died on 2 October 1979. G D Arulraj was born in 1925 and died in June 1972 while visiting India. Arul worked at Laguna Beach in the 60's and 1970's. G D Thyagaraj might have been born in 1922 and I am told that he probably died sometime before 1981. He moved to northern India as a young man. I lived in India as a child and spent a lot of time in Calcutta. My mother purchased several paintings directly from Paul Raj while living in Madras and this got me interested in his works. I then discovered he had two brothers Arul Raj and Thyaga Raj who were both fantastic artists. I could not find much information on the internet so decided to set up my own blog. Subsequently a Facebook tribute site has also been created to the memory of the three brothers. Contact me at: rajbrothers@hotmail.co.uk

Saturday 18 January 2014

Hooghly Ink Company

While tidying up my desk I unearthed an old address book given to me by my father when he worked at the Hooghly Ink Company Ltd in Calcutta.  They also had factories in Madras, Bombay and Delhi. This address book dates from the late 1960's and the cover says "Manufacturers of fine printing inks for over 50 years."
Like all firms they had a selection of gifts to give to business contacts and clients, I also had a thread counter, a calendar and pen holder for a desk, an ink blotter, a keyring and of course they produced a calendar every year.  That would be interesting to track down a calendar.  I do remember that my sister featured on the calendar one year as a young child.  I think the business was first set up in India in the 1920's or early based on the statement on the address book it could be earlier but I am not certain?  It originally was a subsidy company of the UK ink manufacturer called Richardson's Printing Inks.

Tuesday 14 January 2014

G D Thyagaraj - Temple in Jaipur

This is a painting by G D Thyagaraj again one of his popular temples in Jaipur maybe?  He has painted this one from many different directions.
It is really quite a nice painting with the steep stair case leading up to the temple with the tree behind.

Saturday 11 January 2014

Silver Half Rupee Snuff Box

I came across another snuff box this time it was made out of silver half rupee coins dated from around 1930 or later.  It was up for sale for £100 which seemed a lot compared with prices on previous boxes that I have seen.



Tuesday 7 January 2014

G D Thyagaraj - Working in the paddy fields

Another version of Thyagaraj's working in the paddy fields.  This one has two large trees in the painting.
The women are working while a man sits on the dry land watching them work.

Saturday 4 January 2014

G D Paulraj centenary year

Paulraj was born in September 1914 so 2014 is the centenary year since he has born.  One of his daughter's Shiba Paul Rah herself an artist in Chennai has been interviewed by a the New Indian Express newspaper and you can read the article at the following web link.