Gond Art: Stories and Signatures

The subject matter can be anything the artist wishes. A Gond artist is like an individual contemporary artist in the world.

Often, the work is based on folklore or a tribal customs. There may be a seed of reality visible or the work could be abstract. It could even be a combination of the two.

This painting, depicting prayers to Dharti Mata or Mother Earth, is based on a tribal custom. Before the seed is sown in the fields, it is offered to the Earth.

The many footprints symbolise the whole village, on behalf of whom the priest conducts the prayers and makes the offerings, which is symbolised by the bird.

The sowing of the fields is like a festival, with every one participating in it.

The birds in the trees and the animals show the relationship of man with other creatures, and represent life in its different forms.

The detailing in a Gond artwork makes it distinctive. Each artist has his or her own individual recognisable detailing style.

The most interesting aspect of the Gonds practically ‘inventing’ their ‘tradition’ in the 20th century is that while they have adopted a signature style recognisable as the genre of Gond art, they have also given themselves individual signatures within signatures.

These consist of repetitive lines, minuscule dots, diagonals, chains, tiny circles, crosses or any other form of stroke that can be repeated thousands of times over.

Such signature embellishments creating textures, tones and sections within a painting make for Gond art.

The artist sketches the outline of the work, without initial pencil or rough drawing.

Individual areas are then filled in.

For a large canvas, this process can take several weeks.

Read more about Gond Painting here:
- Ancient and Contemporary Fountainheads
- Bhajju Shyam