Goan Paintings
Hand-painted canvases of Goan mornings: the poi man on his round, fish sellers before the heat, a vendor with his cart, and the two sisters of Saligao. Oil and acrylic on canvas, made to order.
Goan paintings: the poi boy, the fish sellers, the sisters
Most Goa art you can buy online is sunsets. This is the other Goa, the one that happens before the heat arrives.
On a Wednesday in Mapusa, women sit cross-legged behind baskets of mackerel and pomfret. Marigold garlands are stacked beside the fish, because flowers and food are sold from the same stall. Poi vendors pass with trays of bread balanced on their heads, white hats tilted against the early sun. Nobody is performing, and that is the part worth painting.
Part of the studio lives there, so none of this came from a research trip.
The poi boy, mid-stride
Bread is delivered on foot in that market, the tray carried on the head. The man carrying it has done the round so many times that he does not slow down for anything, which is why he is painted mid-stride with the tray stacked high.
The hat is tilted at exactly the angle the early sun asks for.
Marigolds next to mackerel
Flowers and fish come off the same table here. It is the detail that gets lost when a market is painted from photographs, where the marigolds read as decoration instead of stock.
The seller sits at the centre of her own small kingdom, baskets spread out around her, and does not get up all morning.
Fresh Catch, walking away
A woman with her back to us, fish arranged on palm leaves and balanced against one hip. From behind, the load is the whole picture. You do not need to see her face to know how heavy the morning has been.
The man who knows the morning will wait
A yellow poi cart, and a man beside it who has been at this long enough to be certain that the morning is not going anywhere.
That unhurried quality is hard to paint without making the figure look lazy. He is not. He is simply not rushed.
Saligao, and the two sisters
Saligao is fifteen minutes inland from the coast. Old Portuguese houses with red oxide floors, cashew trees, a church on a hill you can see from the main road. Not one souvenir shop, which is why it was chosen.
Two canvases, the same two women. Mango and Chilli and Tides Between Us: mango groves, salt in the air, a place small enough to know completely. Turmeric yellow, chilli red, and the particular green cashew leaves turn after rain. Bought as a pair more often than not.
Sizes, and the mistake most people make
Up to nine sizes each, 12 by 18 inches up to 48 by 48. Price follows the canvas, not the painting.
One thing worth saying plainly. Most first paintings are bought too small. On a living room wall, 30 inches and up is where a canvas starts to hold the room instead of filling a gap in it.
Rolled, stretched, and how long it takes
Inside India shipping is free, stretched and ready to hang, 7 to 10 business days from dispatch. Abroad it goes rolled in a tube, 2 to 4 weeks.
Your own dimensions makes it a commission: Rs 3,000 a square foot, 6 to 8 weeks of painting before it ships.
Where are these painted?
Loka Loka Studio is based between Goa and Gurgaon. The paintings themselves are made at our workshop in Delhi.
What are Goan paintings?
Paintings of daily Goan life rather than views of the place. The bread round, the fish market at Mapusa, a poi cart, two sisters in Saligao.
Who is the poi boy?
Poi is the bread Goa eats in the morning. The poi boy carries a tray of it on his head through the market, and he does not slow down for anyone.
Are the Sisters of Saligao canvases a pair?
They are two paintings of the same two sisters and they are usually bought together. Mango and Chilli has them over a table of fruit. Tides Between Us has them by the water.
Are these folk art?
No. Flat colour, hard edges, figures built from shape. The subjects are Goan. The handling is modern.
How much do they cost?
From Rs 6,500 for a small rolled canvas. The price follows the size of the canvas, not the subject.
Two canvases in this collection are not Goan subjects. They are retro pieces carrying the same tag. The rest came out of Mapusa on a Wednesday and Saligao on a slow afternoon.
If you have queued at that market you will recognise the hats and the marigolds. If you have not, they still have to work as paintings. Ask us for a photo of one on a wall before you buy, and we will send it.
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