24-Inch Warli Wall Art - Hand-Painted Tribal Village Scene

What you are looking at

Read it from the centre out. Figures hold hands in a circle around the middle, the way the tarpa dance is always drawn. Around them are the things a Warli painting records - people carrying pots, animals, huts, a tree. Nothing is drawn in perspective and nothing is shaded. The whole grammar is two shapes and a line, which is why the style has survived being copied for a century without losing its identity.

Why this one

2,200 g (approx. 4.9 lb) on a 10 mm board, two feet across. Warli is usually sold as a print on paper or canvas; this is paint on a rigid disc, which is why it hangs without a frame and without buckling. The white lines are brushed on individually - look along the outer figures and you can see the line weight change where the brush was reloaded.

Where it goes

Over a dining table, in a study or home office, along a stair wall, or in a living room that already has a lot of colour and needs one quiet piece. The brown-and-white palette sits well against wood, jute and white walls, and does not fight patterned upholstery.

The rest of the series

Five 24-inch discs share this format, each a different subject: the Adiyogi Shiva, the Kathakali face, the Yin Yang and the maroon and blue mandala. Hung as a pair or a row of three they read as a set, because the diameter and the thickness match exactly.

Hanging it

A hook is fitted to the back. At this weight the fixing should go into a stud or a drywall anchor rated for it - a plain picture nail is not enough. Screws and wall anchors are not supplied.

Care

Dust with a dry, soft cloth. If there is mirror inlay, use glass cleaner on the mirror only, applied to the cloth rather than sprayed, so nothing runs onto the paint.