Kodaikanal Photos - Artists at Work

Robert Schramm has found two photographs he took in 1949 of two artists painting on the mountain road in Kodaikanal.  I have approached one of Paul Raj's daughters to see if they can identify the artist and it is believed that Kodaikanal Painter1.
(below) is likely to be ThyagaRaj. The hair, particularly the waves and curls, and the cheekbone line seem to fit this.  ArulRaj was in Malaya in '48 and his hair is flatter by comparison.

 

 Kodaikanal painter2 (below) is definitely not family. 

Apparently the style and skill is same of the same school suggesting he might have been a friend visiting. 

 

These are two great photographs showing artists at work in 1949 and what fantastic views.  I am very grateful to Robert for letting me add his photos to my blog. It is possible one of the views is of "Coaker's Walk".

G D Paulraj - Carts and Hills

This is a painting recently added to the "Raj" Facebook site by a lady that went to school in Kodaikanal which is the original home of Paulraj.  So the painting has the usual cart convoy but what is different is that it has hills in the background.  It looks a very nice painting.

The cattle have been very well painted, hope you like this one.

G D Paulraj - All of Kodai

Today we have another painting by G D Paulraj of the same lake in Kodaikanal.  It has been found by Kashinath and contributed to the Facebook page.  It is not so faded as the last one and shows more buildings.

Th colours are great and his style has changed, I assume this is a lot later, hope you like this, thanks Kashinath, can you tell me where you found this painting?

G D Paulraj - Mist over the Lake

Today I am adding a painting that is currently for sale of Ebay in the UK in case anyone is interested in it. It is listed under item number 1605 4384 5594 asking £495 or 'Make an offer'.  It is slightly different to most other paintings I have seen in that it is purely a landscape with no people visible.  The colours look a bit faded which is a shame.

Latest news the view has been identified as being Kodaikanal which is where the Raj family lived in southern India. Mark has added a photo which I think he took on a visit to Kodaikanal of the same lake from the same vantage point.  I do not think he will mind me adding it next to the painting for comparison.

You can clearly see the similarities with some artistic licence.

G D Paul Raj - Country Road

I have been busy over the last few days getting the house tidied up as my eldest daughter is getting married at the end of December.  Todays painting is another I own by G D Paul Raj called "Country Road".  It has suffered some water damage at some point and it had a lot of foxing in the centre on the large tree trunk.  I had to get a new mount and non-reflective glass and then reassembled the frame and it does not look too bad now.

Once again I seem to like the nice blue sky, maybe it is because we have so little blue sky in England during the winter months.  The original mount was quite badly damaged by water but I have saved the inscription that was on the back and I have attached this to the rear of the rebuilt frame.  The frame is contemporary, I guess from the 1960s?  The inscription shows the title "Country Road" and the price of Rs 95 /- (which is amazing), and the artist's name and address.  I paid a lot more then Rs 95/- for this one and it was not in perfect condition.

This shows G D Paul Raj as still living in Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu where he was born and could help to date the painting.  A piece of advice to all you amazing artists out there please date your paintings in some way as well as signing and giving them a name, it would make things so more helpful to collectors.  Hope you all like this one.