Style combination · Contrasts

Indian Calendar × Kalighat Pat

The glossy, crowded naturalism of calendar art displaced the pat; set an empty-ground Kalighat line beside it to contrast quick satire with devotional finish.

From the research on Kalighat Pat & Battala Bazaar Prints

Mix them and make something Indian Calendar Kalighat Pat

A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from Kalighat Pat, their arrangement from Indian Calendar, the finish from Kalighat Pat. Not a real work, and not an image of either style.

What each style brings

Each part of the design comes from the style with the stronger say in it, and each style gives at least two.

Indian Calendar & Bazaar Art Kalighat Pat & Battala Bazaar Prints

Type from Indian Calendar: Hand-lettering
Colour from Indian Calendar: Full polychrome
Jewel & metallic
Form from Kalighat Pat: Stylised figuration
Distortion & exaggeration
Composition from Indian Calendar: Central symmetry
Single focal point
Surface from Kalighat Pat: Painterly brushwork
Carved line

The type

Open fonts standing in for each style’s own type, which is often hand-drawn or commercial.

Display · Indian Calendar

Grace

Rozha One, standing in for Hand-drawn Devanagari display lettering

Text · Kalighat Pat

The bazaar art of nineteenth-century Calcutta: watercolours sold to pilgrims by patua painters at the Kalighat temple, and the cheap woodcuts and metal engravings that Battala presses printed for chapbooks and almanacs. A single plaque-like figure stands on unpainted paper, drawn with one loaded, sweeping brushstroke that both outlines and shades it. Deities share the repertoire with satire of the Westernised babu, domestic scandal and street life.

Archivo; Kalighat Pat used Bengali captions cut into Battala woodblocks and Bengali letterpress text of Battala chapbooks and almanacs

The colours

The ground and leading colours come from Indian Calendar, with a counter-accent from Kalighat Pat. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

Indian Calendar & Bazaar Art Kalighat Pat & Battala Bazaar Prints

#d4a537 ground · 39%
#141414 ink · 15%
#c8202f accent · 20%
#1e6fa3 accent · 15%
#2e6b3c accent · 11%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #d4a537;
  --ink: #141414;
  --accent-1: #c8202f;
  --accent-2: #1e6fa3;
  --accent-3: #2e6b3c;
  --font-display: "Rozha One", serif;
  --font-text: "Archivo", sans-serif;
}

Use it with care

Indian Calendar & Bazaar Art: These are devotional images that many viewers worship, so do not crop, distort or deface deities or place them on footwear, floors, underwear or in mocking contexts. Many original painters went uncredited; name the artist and press where known.

Kalighat Pat & Battala Bazaar Prints: Many sheets depict Hindu deities that are still worshipped (Kali, Durga, Lakshmi, Krishna), and some were painted for Muslim patrons (Duldul, Imam Husain's horse), so do not distort, crop or place these figures in mocking or disposable contexts. The patua (chitrakar) families of Bengal still practise the art; commission or credit living painters rather than tracing museum images, and name the artist where known.

The two styles

1878–present · South Asia Indian Calendar & Bazaar Art Mass-printed images of Hindu deities, epic scenes, saints, nationalist heroes and film stars, sold in bazaars and given away as business calendars, from the chromolithographs of the Calcutta Art Studio and Ravi Varma Press to Sivakasi offset. Frontal, idealised figures painted with academic naturalism glow against dreamy landscapes, in saturated colour with gold, haloes and ornate frames above the sponsor's name and calendar pad. 1830–1930 · South Asia Kalighat Pat & Battala Bazaar Prints The bazaar art of nineteenth-century Calcutta: watercolours sold to pilgrims by patua painters at the Kalighat temple, and the cheap woodcuts and metal engravings that Battala presses printed for chapbooks and almanacs. A single plaque-like figure stands on unpainted paper, drawn with one loaded, sweeping brushstroke that both outlines and shades it. Deities share the repertoire with satire of the Westernised babu, domestic scandal and street life.

More combinations

With Indian Calendar

All 14 combinations with Indian Calendar

With Kalighat Pat

All 11 combinations with Kalighat Pat

Every style combination