Muller resurrected

Works of art have been there to appease and mesmerise one into the very beauty of it making one revel in its splendour but it's time now for the admirers of art to express their love.

City-based NGO brings back the pristine glory of Muller8217;s oil painting

Works of art have been there to appease and mesmerise one into the very beauty of it making one revel in its splendour but it8217;s time now for the admirers of art to express their love. And that is what exactly a city-based NGO did. Performing the dutiful role of an art lover city 8211; based NGO- Institute of Research and Development in Oriental studies- Arms and Armours IRDOS recently restored an 80-year-old painting of the great painter- A H Muller.

8220;Pune has been an integral part of India8217;s history and a number of organisations in the city are ensuring that the city continues to contribute to conserving the glorious past that we have had and we too wanted to contribute to the heritage of art our country has,8221; expresses Varsha Rakesh, curator and chief conservator, IRDOS,

The painting, an antique piece is a property of Jyoti Raichand and originally belongs to the royal family of Jodhpur. The lady featured in the painting is Raichand8217;s mother and the portrait was made by Muller 80 years back. According to Rakesh, 8220;The painting was in a bad condition when we first received it on July 25. The canvas was torn, the paint layer had started coming off and the painting also had blooming- a technical term that means foggy blue layer on the painting.8221;

The exclusivity of the painting is that the medium used in most of Muller8217;s paintings is transparent watercolour but this is one of the very few paintings in the country that is done using oil as the medium. Muller who was born in Kochi, Kerala finished his graduation from the Madras School. During the First World War, because of his part-German descent, Muller was asked by the British government in India either to remain interned or to join the volunteer reserve force. He joined the reserve force and won admiration for his lively sketches and drawings. After 1928, he was employed as the court artist of Maharaja of Jodhpur. The painting also reflects the characteristics of Muller8217;s style like the influence of Roman figures and so on. It also has Muller8217;s signature on it.

Explaining the treatments done on the painting Rakesh says, 8220;In a two month treatment on the painting the IRDOS experts have done a number of treatments. The first challenge was to prevent the paint layer from coming off. It comes off due to the loss of medium over years and we have to restore the medium on the painting. Other processes include straightening, cleaning and so on.8221;

The painting is now restored completely and the researchers claim that if proper care is taken the painting can be preserved for years.