Antonia Munroe

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Festivities and Meditation: Two

$6,500
Antonia Munroe
Festivities and Meditation: Two
gouache on linen on panel, 12x12"

A Small Flowering Plant: Blue Leaves

$6,500
Antonia Munroe
A Small Flowering Plant: Blue Leaves
gouache on linen on panel, 12x12"

The Blue Headed Bee-Eater

$2,800
Antonia Munroe
The Blue Headed Bee-Eater
pigment dispersion on panel, 8x6"

The Green-tailed Sunbird

$2,800
Antonia Munroe
The Green-tailed Sunbird
pigment dispersion on panel, 8x6"

The Swallow-tailed Bee-Eater

$2,800
Antonia Munroe
The Swallow-tailed Bee-Eater
pigment dispersion on panel, 8x6"

An Imagined Zanzibar Red Bishop

$2,800
Antonia Munroe
An Imagined Zanzibar Red Bishop
pigment dispersion on panel, 8x6"

The Purple Sunbird

$2,800
Antonia Munroe
The Purple Sunbird
pigment dispersion on panel, 8x6"

The Gray Headed Flycatcher

$2,800
Antonia Munroe
The Gray Headed Flycatcher
pigment dispersion on panel, 10x8"

The Black Bee-Eater

$2,800
Antonia Munroe
The Black Bee-Eater
pigment dispersion on panel, 8x6"

Bio

Antonia Munroe is inspired by the 16th and 17th century Mughal artists who began to record the natural world with a focus on scientific observation. Having studied Indian miniature painting in Rajasthan, Munroe remains faithful to the traditional techniques used by these artists; binding ground pure pigment and using brushes from the underside hair of a squirrel’s tail. Munroe’s enduring fascination with block printed textiles inspire the borders of her bird paintings and her original series of painted textile fragments.

Textile Fragment Paintings

These small paintings are inspired by textile fragments such as one might see in a museum collection of 11th century Indian block-printed fabric or in a little book of 18th century French gouache studies for wall paper. The influences are wide-ranging and speak of the past, disappearing cultures and techniques, dyes and pigments that have been in use for thousands of years.

Since 2014, I have traveled to Rajasthan, India to study the technique of Indian miniature painting. In keeping with the traditional process, I use hand-ground pigment dispersions which I mix with a binder to create gouache, the original medium used by 17th century Mughal painters. While paintings of this period were typically on paper, I paint on panels. Some of the panels are mounted with linen that I dye with myrobalan, a beautiful natural dye which yields a soft parchment colored ground. Other panels are collaged with graph papers, gold leaf, and fine Indian handwoven cotton which is painted with pure pigment mixed with clay. The surfaces are sanded to a smooth, marble-like finish before I begin the actual painting, using delicate brushes I bring back from India.

-Antonia Munroe