Painting through time

Tara usually works from life when making portraits however because this set were records of historical times and figures then she had to do a quite a lot of research into the subjects. She studied old photographs of them from different angles and at different times in their lives to get a feeling of their distinct personalities. She also researched things such as their uniforms, the textiles of their costumes, medallions and coats of arms on signet rings. Raja Aditya Katoch requested that a number of these portraits reflect the style and mood of some of the old classic royal portraits made by European artists who painted in the Indian courts in the 19^th century.

Tara is particularly inspired by the great portrait artist Rembrandt (1606-1669) so she spent time studying his portraits along side royal portraits of India and came up with a style that integrated influences from both of these along with her own more experimental techniques for paint and colour application. She paid particular attention towards the play of light and shadow with the intension to give the paintings an atmosphere of vibrancy and prosperity despite the serious mood and dark backgrounds.

The eyes are said to be the gateway to a person’s soul and out of all the elements of the face, they are particularly important for Tara in, as she puts it “capturing the likeness of a person”. They are the feature that she will work on over and over again until she feels that she can see the subject looking out at her with their particular quirky expressions. Tara likes to show the depth of spirit of a person through their eyes. Using light and shadow and delicate brush strokes she works to show the range of emotions that come through a person’s eyes. Looking into them it is possible to get a glimpse into some of the strengths and weaknesses, privileges and disadvantages of her subjects. During the process of painting this portrait, one thing that Tara noted was that the eyes of Col. Maharaja Sir Jai Chand VI were not brown and that his skin was fair. This surprised her because of his Indian heritage. However his grandson explained to her that their Katoch family are genetically fair people and that his grandfather had indeed had grey eyes and fair skin.

Tara has a great love of texture in paintings and she paid particular attention to portraying some of the elaborate textures and details within the textiles and adornments worn by the royal subjects. She created a striking effect by scratching texture and fine details into the surface of the thick wet paint. She also added an unusual and quirky effect by integrating certain dried India grains and pulses into the surface of the paint. She felt that this would both create the desired texture for surfaces such at the jewellery and would also link the painting to Indian family heritage and traditions in a curious and subtle way.

This painting now hangs in the portrait gallery at the summer residence of Raja Aditya Dev Chand Katoch and his wife Maharani Chandresh Kumari Katoch. It is a source of interest to visitors who often mistake it for an old classic painting. This portrait of one of the last ruling Rajas hangs watching down on the lives of is his descendants and gives a glimpse into a moment in history and a tribute to this prestigious and highly decorated member of the Katoch family.