About Us

Art Haven Studio is a Thanjavur painting studio in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, run by K Kavitha. We sell directly to collectors and decorators worldwide.

Thanjavur painting is a South Indian tradition roughly two centuries old. A design is drawn onto seasoned board, the ornament — jewelry, crowns, architecture — is built up in relief with gesso, a lime putty, and gold-toned foil is laid over the raised work. The rest is painted in flat, saturated color. Because the ornament stands proud of the surface, the piece changes as you move past it.

Nothing on this site is painted before it is ordered. We hold no stock. When an order comes in we commission one of our painters, the piece is painted in 3–5 days, framed in the frame you chose, then crated and shipped. You are emailed at each stage.

Our catalog runs to 105 designs across 4 subjects: birds and botanicals, animals and wildlife, temples and palaces and village life, and the devotional subjects the school is best known for. Most of what we paint is not devotional — a peacock, a caparisoned elephant or a temple gateway needs no connection to the iconography to hang well.

We also paint to commission. If the subject you want is not in the gallery, that is the ordinary way we work rather than a special case.

Art Haven Studio, 5/24, Ori Salai, Mogappair East, Mogappair, Tiruvallur, Tamil Nadu 600037, India. Email customerservice@arthavenstudio.net · Phone +91 90429 46021 (Monday–Saturday, 10:00–18:00 IST (GMT+5:30)).