Food or art?

So why egg? Well if you have ever noticed,egg yolk dries very quickly and if one does not rinse off your plate immediately it can stick on and give you a tough time doing the dishes. It is these qualities of drying quickly and adhering to surfaces that led artists to using egg tempera.

Unlike oils that became the craze in the West post 12th Century,tempera is applied in thin semi opaque layers,and when it dries it leaves a fairly smooth,yet matte finish.

Tempera is great for detailing and cannot be used to produce large,sweeping brush strokes but fine cross-hatching work.

The Fayum portraits made in Roman Egypt are quite celebrated art historically and in the Classical art world. The portraits spread over a large part of Egypt are stylistically called Fayum and not because of the Fayum region. The portraits were usually painted on the casket of the mummy,to commemorate the dead.

In contemporary art practice,gouache has replaced tempera,although it is not made from egg yolk,produces that semi opaque feel that is typical of traditional tempera. Tempera is still preferred by modern miniaturists who believe in following traditional methods,despite the time consuming process of having to grind and make the paint.

Artist Ganesh Pyne has brought some delightful interpretations to egg tempera. Bringing in contemporary themes that affected Pyne during the difficult times in Bengal,Naxalite movement and the struggle for independence,Pyne’s haunting and stirring compositions are usually painted in egg tempera,giving them a time worn air.

Demystify art,e-mail georgina.maddox@expressindia.com