1
PERSONAL LIFE
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.
Raja Ravi Varma was born at Kilimanoor palace in the erstwhile princely state of
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.
Ravi Varma's father, Ezhumavil Neelakanthan Bhattatiripad,
hailed from the Ernakulam
district in Kerala. Ravi Varma had three siblings, a sister
named
Mangala Bayi, and two brothers named Goda Varma (born 1854) and Raja Varma
(born 1860). The last-named was also a painter and worked closely with Ravi Varma all
his life.
In 1866, at the age of 18, Varma was married to 12-year-old Bhageerthi
Bayi (known formally as Pooruruttati Nal Bhageerathi Bayi Thampuratty)
of the royal
house of Mavelikkara, another major fief of Travancore kingdom.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. Their elder
son, Kerala
Varma (b.1876) was of an excessively spiritual temperament. He never
married
and eventually renounced the world, leaving home for good in
1912. The younger son,
Rama Varma (born 1879), inherited his father's
artistic talent and studied at the JJ School of
became the father of seven children.
ART CAREER
At the age of 14, Ayilyam Thirunal Maharaja took him to Travancore
Palace and he was taught
water painting by the palace painter Rama Swamy
Naidu.
Dutch portraitist Theodor Jenson.The British administrator Edgar Thurston was significant
in promoting the careers of Varma and his brother.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.
SPECIALITIES OF RAJARAVI VARMA WORKS
techniques with a purely Indian sensibility. While continuing the tradition and
aesthetics of Indian art, his paintings employed the latest European academic
art techniques.
2. 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.
3. Most of his oil paintings are based on Hindu epic stories and characters.
4.Many of his oil paintings are classic and his unique Indian style has later influenced
artists and designers worldwide. Here we have displayed pictures of some of the
classic oil paintings and oleographs of Raja Ravi Varma.
5. He is often criticized for being to showy and sentimental in his style but his work
remains very popular in india.
RAJA RAVI VARMA PRESS
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.
HONOURS
in 1893 and he was awarded three gold medals.
2. In 1904, Viceroy Lord Curzon, on behalf of the British King Emperor, bestowed upon
Varma the Kaisar-i-Hind Gold Medal.
3. A college dedicated to fine arts was also constituted in his honour at Mavelikara, Kerala.
4. 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.
5. 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.
IMAGES OF MAJOR WORKS
REFERENCES
*en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raja_Ravi_Varma
*www.cyberkerala.com/rajaravivarma
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment