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Introduction
Raja Ravi Varma 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. [1] [2]
Personal life
Ravi Varma was born at Kilimanoor palace in the erstwhile princely state of Travancore into an aristocratic family that for over 200 years produced consorts for the princesses of the matrilineal Travancore royal family. [3]
Marriage
In 1866, at the age of 18, Varma was married to 12-year-old Bhageerthi Bayi of the royal house of Mavelikkara. The couple had five children, two sons, and three daughters. [3]
Art career
Varma was patronised by Ayilyam Thirunal, the next Maharajah of Travancore and began formal training thereafter. [4]
Training
He learned the basics of painting in Madurai. Later, he was trained in water painting by Rama Swami Naidu and in oil painting by Dutch portraitist Theodor Jenson. [4]
Influence of Edgar Thurston
The British administrator Edgar Thurston was significant in promoting the careers of Varma and his brother. [5]
Exhibitions
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. [6]
Collection
Many of his fabulous paintings are housed at Laxmi Vilas Palace, Vadodara. [7]
Printing press
Apparently on the advice of the then Dewan 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. [8]
Honours
In 1904, Viceroy Lord Curzon, on behalf of the British King Emperor, bestowed upon Varma the Kaisar-i-Hind Gold Medal. [9]
Death
Verma died on 2 October 1906 at the age of 56, in Attingal, Travencore. [3]
Major works
Ravi Varma's representation of mythological characters has become a part of the Indian imagination of the epics. [10] Some of his notable works include;
Tilottama
Tilottama, a chromolithograph from 1896
Damayanthi
Princess Damayanthi talking with Royal Swan about Nala, an oil on canvas from 1899.
Galaxy of Musicians
Galaxy of Musicians, an oil on canvas
The Maharashtrian Lady
The Maharashtrian Lady, an oil on canvas
References
- ^ Nagam Aiya, The Travancore State Manual
- ^ "Restoring works of art". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ a b c PAL, DEEPANJANA (2011). THE PAINTER. Random House India. ISBN 9788184002614. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ a b "The Diary of C. Rajaraja Varma"
- ^ Mitter, Partha (1994). Art and Nationalism in Colonial India, 1850-1922: Occidental Orientations. Cambridge University Press. pp. 69, 193, 208. ISBN 978-0-52144-354-8.
- ^ Kilimanoor Chandran, Ravi Varmayum Chitrakalayum(in Malayalam), Department of Culture, Kerala, 1998.
- ^ Vadodara, Lakshmi Vilas Palace. "Raja Ravi Varma Paintings, Vadodara". www.historyofvadodara.in.
- ^ Davis, Richard (2012). Gods in Print: Masterpiece of India's Mythological Art. San Rafael, California: Mandala Publishing. p. 83. ISBN 9781608871094.
- ^ "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature". Planetarynames.we.ugs.gov.
- ^ Vadodara, Lakshmi Vilas Palace. "Raja Ravi Varma Paintings, Vadodara". www.historyofvadodara.in.