Great Banyan Tree Calcutta - 1947 Rover P2 Sports Saloon

I am adding three photos showing the Great Banyan tree in Calcutta.  The first shows my father on 25 May 1947 with what must have been a new Rover P2 Sports Saloon car taken at the Great Banyan Tree. He cannot have been in India very long when the photo was taken.

The second photo shows myself climbing on the Banyan tree taken around 1964.

The final photo shows the tree from a distance and it is huge covering around 2.5 acres with several thousand stems, I understand that it is believed to be around 250 years old.

G D Paulraj - Collecting water

Painting by G D Paulraj recently sold at auction in the USA shows a group of young women filling clay chattees (pots) with water from the village tap.

The auction house had misread the name and had it recorded as Paulrai ending in 'i" and not 'j'.  This is a very pleasant painting.

Qutub Minar - Delhi

I have been looking though some old photograph albums and I came across two photos I took in 1967 of the Qutub Minar minaret in Delhi.  The minaret is believed to have been started in 1192 and measures 72.5 metres in height with 379 stairs.  In the first photo my mother is taking a cine film of the tower.

In 1967 you were still allowed to climb the tower to the top but I think I only went to the first platform which is where the second photo  was taken from.

G D Paulraj - Notebook 4

Another page from Paul's notebooks, this one dates from April 1958 for are priced at Rs 150/- and painting number 3) at Rs 175/-.  The were all sent to a company address in Calcutta.

The paintings are titled :

1) Homeward bound;

2) Transplanting - Malabar;

3) Backwaters - Through the palms;

4) Vegetable market Malabar;

5) Boats in Trivandram.

G D Paulraj - Carts passing

This painting is currently shown on the Art Discarded blogsite it is quite a nice painting by Paul Raj.  Slightly unusual in that we have two cart convoys going in opposite directions.  The trees on the right hand side are enormous.

It seems this painting dates from 1962 and was probably purchased in Kodaikanal.

G D Paulraj - Notebook 3

This page continues the order from page 2 and it is in fact dated 29 March 1955 and the order was going to Bombay at Rs 150/- each which was the equivalent of $31.32.

The paintings are titled;

7) Field watcher

8) Under the Banyan

9) Homeward bound

A new order also starts priced at Rs 125/- titles are;

1) Camels in Agra

2) Country road

3) Village daughter

I have never seen a Paul Raj camel, I have seen camels painted by Thyaga Raj.

G D Paulraj - Notebook page 2 - Mail order sales

I am intending to add a series of Paul Raj's notebook pages these give an idea of the prices he was selling his paintings for in the 1950s, 1960 and 1970s.  They also show one of the ways he sold his painting was by mail order on approval.  He would post a client between six and twelve paintings and they would choose a selection return the rest with the appropriate payment.  The notebooks were a way of keeping track of who he had sent what paintings and what they looked like.  It also gives an idea of the names he gave some paintings.

This page does not have a date or any prices but some later ones do. I have added a pair of pages previously so I have called this one number 2.  They are in no particular sequence.

The six sketches are titled:
1) Daughters of the village
2) Setting sun
3) Street in Madras
4) Dust and light
5) Cumlan Valley (not sure if I have read this title correctly?)
6) Through the fields 

In 1960 there was Rs/- 4.77 = $1.00 so a painting selling for Rs/- 150 was the equivalent of $31.50