Decmber 2011 Ezine - Raja Ravi Varma - world renowned Indian Artist.

Raja Ravi Varma
 

                The lady with Lamp....this was the painting my grandpa saw at the museum..

When as a boy of six he filled the walls of his home with pictures of animals and vignettes from his everyday life, his uncle, an artist, not only gave him the first drawing lessons, but also took a keen interest in his further training and education

At the age of thirteen, Ravi Varma was brought to the Palace of Trivandrum and the Maharaja Ayilyam Tirunaal was impressed by the quality of his artistic efforts and directed the young boy to stay in Trivandrum. Here he was taught water painting by the palace painter Rama Swamy Naidu. Varma’s talent was also nurtured by the personal interest of the King who exposed him to the famous paintings of Italian painters.

Ravi Varma had been using the indigenous paints made from leaves, flowers, tree bark and soil which his uncle Raja Raja Varma prepared for him. His first set of oil paints was brought from Madras after noticing a newspaper advertisement. Excited and nervous,his next dilemma was learning to paint using the new medium which were elusive in those days. The only person in the state of Travancore who knew the technique of oil painting was Ramaswamy Naicker of Madura, who, recognizing a potential rival in Varma and refused to teach him the know-how. Naicker's student, Arumugham Pillai would sneak out at night to share his knowledge with Varma, against his teacher’s wishes.

He also watched a visiting Dutch portrait artist who painted the portraits of Ayilyam Thirunal and his wife. Through trial, error and hard work, Ravi Varma worked with the pliable medium, learning to blend, smooth and maneuver the flexibility that was afforded by this slow drying substance. When Varma himself painted the portraits of this royal couple, this self-taught artist’s blazing talent far outshone the Dutchman!

In the year 1870, a question bothered him. He was unsure whether he should take up art as a profession. Especially since artists were not important persons in higher societies he wondered if he had adequate skills to establish an identity as an artist. When the ruler assured him that art was a great profession he decided to take it up. To make an auspicious beginning he traveled by foot to Mookambika temple in South Canara district of Karnataka, to worship and gain the blessing of the goddess. On his way back he received the first paid commission to do a portrait of a family in Calicut.

His marriage, in 1866, to Pooroouttati Naal Tampuratty of Mavelikkara Kottaram Royal family and its social status brought him into contact with a British Resident at Trivandrum who persuaded him to participate in the Fine Art Exhibition, Madras in 1873. His work titled "A Nair Lady at the Toilet" showing a pretty woman adoring her hair with a garland of jasmine was declared the best of the show. Not only did he win the first prize Governor's Gold Medal but was also granted an interview by the Governor Lord Hobart, who spoke encouragingly of his work, and advised him to persevere and make a name for himself The Maharaja of Travancore feted him on his return to Trivandrum for bringing honour to the State. In the same year the painting was sent to an international exhibition at Vienna, where it was awarded a medal and a Certificate of Merit. More importantly, this award received appreciative notices in the English dailies published from Madras, Bombay and Calcutta, thereby spreading Ravi Varma's reputation as an artist of merit to other parts of India.

In 1874, Ravi Varma once again received the first prize at the Madras Exhibition for his painting titled ''A Tamil Lady Playing the Sarabat". The Maharaja of Travancore presented, this prize-winning painting along with two other paintings, to the Prince of Wales, later King Edward  VII, during the Prince's visit to Madras in 1875. His majesty expressed his admiration of the works and said, "for an artist who had no European training, the paintings were highly creditable".

                    

                                              A Village Belle...

When Ravi Varma's paintings were exhibited in Bombay with the permission of the Gaekwad, they were publicly exposed for some days. They produced quite a sensation, since it was the first time that subjects from the Great Indian epics had been depicted on canvas so truthfully and emotively. Vast crowds of people gathered from all parts of the Bombay Presidency to see the paintings. Hundreds and thousands of their photographs were sold all over India.

The popularity of these pictures led to the establishment, by the artist, at his own expenditure, a Lithographic Press in Bombay in 1894, first of its kind in India. Bombay was chosen for its location, due to the convenience of importing machinery from Germany and distribution of the prints. He also partnered with the Bombay industrialist, Goverdhandas Khatau Makhanji.

The press brought him in close touch with the finest men of his times, including leaders who found in his contribution a mighty influence for national awakening. He was close to Dadabhai Naoroji and later to Gopala Krishna Gokhale.

Ravi Varma's success in this enterprise far exceeded his expectations. His oleographs were based on his paintings featuring mythological subjects, divine figures and women in secular settings. The Hindu divinities, devoid of multiple arms or heads, looked like real people. These portrayals became immensely popular. The depiction of Goddesses Saraswati and Laxmi, in particular, received acceptance as the new iconographical types and all previous representatives lost their appeal and before long faded from public memory. Even the Indian film industry to this day is influenced by his depiction of Hindu Gods in terms of their clothing and the facial features. His prints found an honored place in cultural homes all over India.

Goddess  Lakshmi.....

Even though the Lithographs brought Ravi Varma much fame, they were also the cause of his financial disaster. The plague which devastated Poona & Bombay in 1898 & the political upheaval spearheaded by Bal Gangadhar Tilak led to the closure of the press for a few months, and inevitably its finances fell into bad shape. Finally, he decided to sell it together with the reproduction rights to Sriram Pant.