Ahead of the 175th birth anniversary fete of the legendary artist Raja Ravi Varma, the erstwhile royal family of Kilimanoor has urged the Government of India to posthumously confer the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award, on him.
About Raja Ravi Varma
- Born into the aristocracy at Kilimanoor in the erstwhile Travancore on April 29, 1848, Mr. Varma’s women-centric paintings portray a vast variety of their expressions and costumes.
- Some of his popular works include ‘Lady in the Moonlight’, ‘Nair Lady Adorning Her Hair’, ‘Malabar Lady with Violin’, ‘Lady with Swarbat’, and ‘Maharashtrian Lady with Fruits’.
- It is believed that he had made around 7,000 paintings before his death at the age of 58.
- But only one painting is now left in ‘Chithrashala,’ the artist’s studio at Kilimanoor Palace — an unfinished portrait of ‘Parsi lady’ which was his last work.
- Varma combined European realism with Indian sensibilities.
- While he travelled to find his subjects, painting the Indian royals and aristocrats, his inspiration came from varied sources — from Indian literature to dance drama.
- Much of his celebrated art also borrows heavily from Indian mythology.
- In fact, he is often credited with defining the images of Indian gods and goddesses through his relatable and more realistic portrayals often painted with humans as models.
- The depictions include Lakshmi as the goddess of wealth, Saraswati as the goddess of knowledge and wisdom, and Lord Vishnu with his consorts, Maya and Lakshmi.
- In that sense, he is credited to change he images of gods and goddess from the supernatural to the human form.
- Raja Ravi Varma aspired to take his art to the masses and the intent led him to open a Lithographic Press in Bombay in 1894. The first picture printed at Varma’s press was reportedly The Birth of Shakuntala, followed by numerous mythological figures and saints such as Adi Shankaracharya.
- He won an award for an exhibition of his paintings at Vienna in 1873. He was also awarded three gold medals at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.
