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RAJA RAVI VARMA

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RAJA RAVI VARMA Raja Ravi Varma Koil Thampuran (29 April 1848 –

2 October 1906) was a celebrated Indian painter and artist. He is considered among the greatest painters in the history of Indian art for a number of aesthetic and broader social reasons. Firstly, his works are held to be among the best examples of the fusion of European techniques with a purely Indian sensibility.

While continuing the tradition and aesthetics of Indian art, his paintings employed the latest European academic art techniques of the day. Secondly, he was notable for making affordable lithographs of his paintings available to the public, which greatly enhanced his reach and influence as a painter and public figure.

RAJA RAVI VARMA SELF-PORTRAIT

Indeed, his lithographs increased the involvement of common people with fine arts and defined artistic tastes among common people for several decades.

In particular, his depictions of Hindu deities and episodes from the epics and Puranas have received profound acceptance from the public and are found, often as objects of worship, across the length and breadth of India.

Raja Ravi Varma was closely related to the royal family of Travancore in the deep south of India (Kerala and Tamil Nadu). Later in his life, two of his granddaughters were adopted into that royal family, and their descendants comprise the totality of the present royal family of Travancore, including the latest three Maharajas (Balarama Varma III, Marthanda Varma III and Rama Varma VII

KILIMANOOR PALACE IN THE PRINCELY STATE OF TRAVANCORE

LIFE Raja Ravi Varma was born at Kilimanoor palace in the

princely state of Travancore (present-day Kerala) into an aristocratic family belonging to the Nair caste.

Ravi Varma was the son of Ezhumavil Neelakanthan

Bhattatiripad, a Brahmin gentleman, by his Nair wife Umayamba Thampurratti. His mother, Uma Ambabayi Thampuratty, belonged to the baronial family which ruled the Kilimanoor feudal estate within the kingdom of Travancore. She was a poet and writer of some talent, whose work Parvati Swayamvaram was published by Varma after her death. In keeping with the Sambandam tradition of matrimony which was prevalent in those days, she was married to a Brahmin gentleman in preference to a man of her own Nair caste

RAJA RAVI VARMA, MRS. RAMANADHA RAO

MARRAIGE In 1866, at the age of 18, Varma was married to 12-year-old

Bhageerthi Bayi of the royal house of Mavelikkara, another major fief of Travancore kingdom. Notably, the house of Mavellikara was a branch of the Royal House of Travancore. Bhageerthi was the youngest of three sisters, and both of her elder sisters had been adopted into the royal family of Travancore in 1857, in order to carry on the lineage. They were known as the Senior and Junior Rani of Attingal, and in their progeny was vested the succession to the throne of Travancore.

Therefore, Ravi Varma's connection to the royal family became very close due to his marriage with Bhageerthi. Indeed, his children (because they belonged to their mother's family) would be royal by birth. The marriage, which was arranged by their parents in the proper Indian manner, was harmonious and successful. The couple were blessed with five children, being two sons and three daughters.

RAJA RAVI VARMA AND RAJA RAJA VARMA (1900). RAJA RAVI VARMA, OF KILIMANOOR PALACE, WAS A WORLD RENOWNED FIGURE IN THE REALM OF ART

ART CAREER The British administrator Edgar Thurston was significant in

promoting the careers of Varma and his brother.Varma received widespread acclaim after he won an award for an exhibition of his paintings at Vienna in 1873. Varma's paintings were also sent to the World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893 and he was awarded three gold medals. He travelled throughout India in search of subjects. He often modelled Hindu Goddesses on South Indian women, whom he considered beautiful.

Ravi Varma is particularly noted for his paintings depicting episodes from the story of Dushyanta and Shakuntala, and Nala and Damayanti, from the Mahabharata. Ravi Varma's representation of mythological characters has become a part of the Indian imagination of the epics. He is often criticized for being too showy and sentimental in his style but his work remains very popular in India. Many of his fabulous paintings are housed at Laxmi Vilas Palace, Vadodara.

DAMAYANTHITALKING WITH ROYAL SWAN ABOUT NALAN

AN FAMOUS OIL WORK OF RAJA RAVI VARMA

RAJA RAVI VARMA PRESS Apparently on the advice of the then Dewan (Prime

Minister) of Travancore, T. Madhava Rao, Ravi Varma started a lithographic printing press in Ghatkopar, Mumbai in 1894 and later shifted it to Malavli near Lonavala, Maharashtra in 1899. The press was managed by Varma's brother, Raja Varma. In 1901 the press was sold to his printing technician from Germany, Mr. Schleicher and later closed down after it was gutted in an accidental fire. 

The oleographs produced by the press were mostly of Hindu gods and goddesses in scenes adapted mainly from the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and the Puranas. These oleographs were very popular and continued to be printed in thousands for many years, even after the 1906 death of Ravi Varma

THE STUDIO USED BY VARMA DURING HIS STAY AT THE LAXMI VILAS PALACE

NOTABLE WORKS OF RAJA RAVI VARMA 1) A Family of Beggars2) A Lady Playing Swarbat3) Arjuna and Subhadra4) Damayanti Talking to a Swan5) Draupadi Dreading to Meet Kichaka6) Girl in Sage Kanwa's Hermitage 7) Jatayu 8) Lady Giving Alms at the Temple9) Lady Lost in Thought10) Lady with Fruit

RANI BHARANI THIRUNAL LAKSHMI BAYI OF (1848–1901)TRAVANCORE

11) Lord Krishna as Ambassador12) Lord Rama Conquers Varuna13) Nair Woman14) Romancing Couple15) Shakuntala16) Shakuntala Composing a Love Letter

to King Dushyanta17) Shantanu and Matsyagandha18) Swarbat Player19) The Heartbroken20) The Orchestra21) Victory of Indrajit

RAMA VARMA'S PORTRAIT OF RAVI VARMA, OIL ON CANVAS, 1952.

HONOUR In 1904, Viceroy Lord Curzon, on behalf of the

British King Emperor, bestowed upon Varma the Kaisar-i-Hind Gold Medal. A college dedicated to fine arts was also constituted in his honour at Mavelikara, Kerala. Raja Ravi Varma High School at Kilimanoor was named after him and there are many cultural organizations throughout India bearing his name. In 2013, the crater Varma on Mercury was named in his honor. 

Considering his vast contribution to Indian art, the Government of Kerala has instituted an award called "Raja Ravi Varma Puraskaram", which is awarded every year to people who show excellence in the field of art and culture.

VARMA'S DAUGHTER MAHAPRABHA WITH ONE OF HER SONS

ART GALLERY Ravi Varma Virtual Art Gallery featuring

images of oil paintings and art works of Raja Ravi Varma and famous artists around the world.

Raja Ravi Varma art gallery includes, Village Belle, Lady Lost in Thought, Damayanti Talking to a Swan, Arjuna and Subhadra, Shakuntala, Romancing Couple, Oil extractor and much more.

PORTRAIT OF KADAMBARI, A LADY PLAYING SITAR

 

1.Kadambari

PORTRAIT OF AN ELEGENT LOOKING ARISTOCRATIC MALABAR LADY

2. Malabar Lady

PAINTING OF A TRADITIONALLY DRESSED LADY OF MAHARASHTRA

3.The Maharashtrian Lady

KERALAITE LADY IN TRADITIONAL DRESS PLAYING VEENA.

4.Lady With Veena

5. At the Bath  

A MALAYALI LADY NEAR POND.

PAINTING OF DAMAYANTHI WITH SERVANT. 

6. Damayanthi

HARISHCHANDRA AND HIS FAMILY ARE SOLD INTO BONDAGE AND SEPARATED.

7. Harischandra In Distress

 DROUPATHI TAKEN TO FOREST BY SIMHIKA, WHO PLANS TO KILL HER.

8. Draupadi and simhika

SHAKUNTHALA LOST IN THOUGHTS

9. Shakunthala

 SAKUNTHALA LOOKING BACK AT DUSHYANTHAN ACTING AS INJURED WITH A THORN.

10. Looks of Love -

A KERALAITE LADY IN DRESSING ROOM ADORNING HER HAIR WITH A GARLAND OF JASMINE 

. 11. Lady In Her Dressing Room

PAINTING OF A NORTH INDIAN VILLAGE GIRL CARRYING MILK. 

12. The Milkmaid 

CLASSIC PAINTING OF YASODHA AND KRISHNA.

 13. Yesoda With Krishna

BHISHMA TAKING THE BIG OATH. 

13. Bhishma Oath

CLASSIC PAINTING OF GODDESS SARASWATHI.

14.Saraswathi

CLASSIC PAINTING OF GODDESS LAKSHMI. 

15. Lakshmi

KING SANTHANU FALLING IN LOVE WITH MATSYAGANDHI.

16.Santhanu and Matsyagandhi

SEETHA HORRIFIED SEEING RAVANA CUTTING JATAYU'S WING. 

17. Jatayu Vadha