Ravi Varma was born in Kilimanoor Palace, Thiruvananthapuram on April 29, 1848. His first Guru (instructor) was his uncle Rajaraja Varma. His painting training began in the traditional style when in the year 1862 later he was able to study the Italian Renaissance painting style. Later he could learn the painting techniques and styles of painters from Tamil Nadu , the western style of painting, and oil painting technique from Theodore Jenson, the Dutch painter who visited Trivandrum palace in 1868.
Raja Ravi Varma (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. 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.
His fame began to rise with his painting “Mullappoo Choodiya Nair Sthree” securing the first prize in a painting exhibition held at Chennai in 1873. This painting was awarded a prize in another exhibition held at Vienna in Austria. Since his acclaim at the Fine Arts Society Exhibition in Madras, 1873, he has been in the limelight and art critics and historians have sought to assess his role in the modern phase of Indian Art.
“Tamizh Mahilayude Sangeethalapanam,” a painting he drew in 1874 again received a prize in Chennai. This painting is now displayed at Sri Chitra Art Gallery in Thiruvananthapuram titled “Daridryam” (Poverty).
In 1876, his painting of Shakunthala received a prize at the exhibition held in Chennai. This beautiful pictorial interpretation of a moment in Kalidasa’s Abhijnana Shakuntalam, when Shakunthala turns back to glance at Dushyanthan in the pretext of drawing a thorn from her feet. It is one of the most famous renderings of Raja Ravi Varma. This painting was used on the front cover of the Shakuntalam translation published by Monien Williams, the British orientalist.(Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects in the Eastern world. These depictions are usually done by writers, designers, and artists from the West.)
Ravi Varma was acquainted with Sir T. Madhava Rao who was the Diwan of Travancore. Madhava Rao was functioning as the adviser of the Maharaja of Vadodara (Baroda). When he visited Thiruvananthapuram in 1880, he bought some paintings of Ravi Varma to take back with him to Baroda.
That was the beginning of the huge role played by the royal family of Baroda in shaping the artistic career of Ravi Varma in later years. The largest private collection of Ravi Varma paintings is still with the Baroda royal family.
In 1881, when Sayajirao Gaekwad became the Maharaja of Baroda, Ravi Varma was invited to participate in the coronation ceremony. He went to Baroda along with his brother Rajaraja Varma and stayed in Baroda for four months, and during that time he painted many pictures based on different contexts from the Puranas.
In 1885, the Maharaja of Mysore Chamarajendra Wodeyar invited him and requested him to paint pictures.
He also travelled widely in North India. Ten of his paintings were exhibited at a world exhibition held in 1893 at Chicago in the United States. It was when he received widespread acclaim across India as a painter, Raja Ravi Varma wished to make prints of his paintings and make them accessible to all at an affordable price. His decision to link the art of painting to modern technology marked the beginning of a new chapter in the history of Indian painting.
Ravi Varma opened Lithographic Press in Bombay in 1893. Two German experts, who are Schleicher and P.Gerhardt to help him in the Lithographic press to meet the demands of his oeuvre. (a substantial body of work constituting the lifework of a writer, an artist) From them the artist learnt German. The pictures that came out of the lithographic press reached as far as South Asia, Europe, Africa, and other places.
In 1894, he established a colour Oleographic Press in Mumbai and started printing affordable copies of his paintings. He had to close down the press when plague broke out in Mumbai and Pune in 1897. Finally, on January 21, 1901 he had to sell off the press and the publishing rights of more than eighty of his paintings at a low price.
The Maharajas of India and the British authorities were all very eager to have Ravi Varma paint for them. The Maharaja of Udaipur, Rajasthan invited him over to paint his ancestors’ portraits. Among these, the portrait of Maharana Prathap is a masterpiece.
In 1904, Ravi Varma was given the responsibility of painting the portrait of the then British governor, Arthur Havlock. In the same year, the British government honoured him by to give the title of “Kesar – i- Hind.” That was the first time an artist was receiving such a high honour.
“During his visit to Calcutta, Ravi Varma had the very pleasant experience of being honoured by some of the leading families in the capital city. Surendranath Banerjee, a patriot and orator, who was among those who received him at the railway station, is reported to have exclaimed “We have been waiting for you for long; now we won't let you go!” There was a reception for him at the Jorasanko house of the Tagore’s when a young man brought a few sketches and pictures printed by him for the Master to see. He studied the pictures and prophetically stated that he saw the signs of future greatness in him. And it proved even so, for that young man was the future Abanindranath Tagore”.
He created many other famous paintings including Snanam Kazhinja Sthree, Narthaki, Vidyarthi, Saraswathi, Draupadi in Virata Rajadhani, the musicians of India, AchanItaa Varunnu, Udaipur Kottaram, Bhadan, Lakshmi, Yasodayum Krishnanum, and Kadambari among others.
Towards the end of his life, he returned to Kilimanoor and immersed himself in a highly productive creative life.
This Lord of Painting passed away on October 2, 1906. Ravi Varma’s paintings are available in many private collections all over India and at Sri Chitra Art Gallery, Thiruvananthapuram. These are also part of the collections at the National Gallery of Modern Art and other museums.Ravi Varma painted the pictures of the Maharaja and the royal family members in the new style.
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