Important Notice

Widely regarded as one of the early pioneers of modern Indian art, Raja Ravi Varma played a critical role in the development of the genre at the beginning of the movement for Indian Independence. He was “an artist of incredible talent who was able to forge a distinctive pan-Indian visual language in a country driven by its differentness...” (Kishore Singh, “Raja Ravi Varma,” Masterpieces of Indian Modern Art, New Delhi: DAG Modern, 2016,... Widely regarded as one of the early pioneers of modern Indian art, Raja Ravi Varma played a critical role in the development of the genre at the beginning of the movement for Indian Independence. He was “an artist of incredible talent who was able to forge a distinctive pan-Indian visual language in a country driven by its differentness...” (Kishore Singh, “Raja Ravi Varma,” Masterpieces of Indian Modern Art, New Delhi: DAG Modern, 2016, p. 438)

Even over a century following his death, “the lexicon used in reference to his paintings spans from theatrical and melodramatic to the fantastical and exaggerated. However argumentative, he is one of the most important artists to have emerged from the subcontinent, and his images of mythological figures are imprinted in most Indian minds for being the most authoritative versions that were able to find audiences and markets, whether in the north of India or the south, east India or the west.” (Singh, p. 438)

Trained as a court artist in Trivandrum, Ravi Varma continued to study and work there through the 1860s in the company of other court painters such as Ramaswamy Naicker of the Tanjore School who was the first to adopt oil as a medium. A couple of years later, Ravi Varma had the chance to observe European portrait artist, Theodore Jensen, at work. This, presumably, prompted Ravi Varma to begin the process of developing his own style that took his awareness of “the ancient conventions and the new thinking, or past history and present events” into account. “He underwent a process of conscious selection of themes, genre and medium in the paintings he wished to make – the grand historical paintings of gods and heroes and portraits of the rich and powerful. He allowed Western influences to prevail when and where it suited him, and from which he knew he could derive the maximum advantage.” (Rupika Chawla, Raja Ravi Varma: Painter of Colonial India, Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 2019, p. 157)

This unique style incorporated the use of oil as a medium as well as European naturalism and realism, with distinctly Indian mythological themes. The distinguishing factor, however, was Ravi Varma’s depiction of mythological figures in a natural human style rather than the traditional supernatural imagery used to convey gods, goddesses and their myths or tales. “He selected easel painting and the oil medium over established Indian methods and materials, academic realism over the subtlety of suggestion...But he also understood the power of the epics and classical texts he had grown up with…With the rich and plastic oil medium and realism as his tools, Ravi Varma transferred the wealth of stories and mythology that came so naturally to him, into paintings of great resonance.” (Chawla, p. 158)

Thematically speaking, Ravi Varma’s paintings can be classified into categories. There is a rich body of portrait work along with his mythological paintings that can be further demarcated into subcategories – Puranic (based on mythology) and religious. “The Puranic paintings are generally the large ones, with several figures caught in the midst of a dramatic action... the choice of scene had to be an unforgettable one within that particular narrative, which would invariably lead to a series of repercussions and consequences... Interspersed within these Puranic paintings are the religious ones, the interpretation of which is quite different from the earlier category. In the religious paintings the same gods and noble characters from the Puranas can illustrate a certain state of being, or present an iconic or decorative image.” (Chawla, p. 161) This distinction led Ravi Varma to approach both categories differently.

At the same time, the element of realism prevalent in Ravi Varma’s, and, by extension, his brother C Raja Raja Varma’s, works is what made them stand out. “From the richness of brocade and satin to the glow of Basra pearls, the glint of gold and metal and the lavishness of detail, Ravi Varma and Raja Varma utilized every conceivable device to make their paintings as visually appealing and as real as they could make them.” (Chawla, p. 243) The present lot is rich in such details as it depicts a woman garbed in a vibrant sari playing the sitar. The intricate details of the traditional jewellery adorning her ears, neck and hands are almost palpable as is the sheen of her velvet blouse (an indicator of the woman belonging to an upper caste family in good stead).

Ravi Varma had a particular talent when it came to painting women. They were painted with “passion and understanding,” and when he did base them on real people, he preferred that his models have particular types of facial features, such as “pronounced eyebrows, large, innocent eyes and wide cheekbones... together with an expression that was both sensitive and intelligent. Yet their faces were deconstructed and assimilated into the stylisation of his preference... The faces that he eventually painted are not specific to any particular model.” (Chawla, p. 200)

His “tragic” heroines usually stemmed from mythology and the lived experience of Indian womanhood at the time. Chawla categorises portraits similar to the present lot as a depiction of vasikasajjika nayika, “the bejewelled and glittering woman happily awaiting her lover’s arrival... The happy expectation of a much loved woman is also manifested through singing or the playing of a musical instrument.” (Chawla, p. 211)

The present lot is an interesting amalgamation of these factors. The woman in the painting is believed to be one of the Moolgavkar sisters. Her status as a woman of high society is evident in her attire and adornments, as is the act of being painted while playing the sitar. She is seemingly oblivious to her surroundings (and, by extension, the observer), completely mesmerised by the song she is playing. The roses scattered on the bench next to her as well as her casually thrown away slipper are typical techniques employed by Ravi Varma to divert the viewer’s sole focus from the subject and take in the other elements that make up the painting.

Although the realism favoured by the Varma brothers would not last for more than three decades after their death, Ravi Varma’s images and iconography, made popular through his lithographic press, would resonate for generations. These oleographic prints appealed both “to the improved Indian art as well as to the rising nationalist pride of India’s emerging leaders and intellectuals. To a growing middle class public in Bengal and other parts of India, Ravi Varma’s mythological pictures came to represent a ‘high art’ and a new ‘national’ iconography – an ‘Indian’ sensibility with the ‘right blend of lyrical emotions and ideals with a sense of beauty of form and colour’.” (Paula Sengupta, “White, Black and Grey: The Colonial Interface,” Kishore Singh ed., The Art of Bengal, New Delhi: Delhi Art Gallery, 2012, p. 27)

As Chawla summed it up, “No other phenomenon was quite so responsible for moving Ravi Varma’s images forward as the printing of oleographs that transferred the likeness of his paintings onto an altogether different medium. The oleographs accelerated the dissemination of his images and propelled them forward. They were also responsible for the conversion of his imagery to other visual mediums, each adapting his representations to suit its specific stylistic and technical demands.” (Chawla, p. 253)

Bollywood, for example, shows the result of this influence. According to artist Sharmistha Ray, “You can really draw a straight line from Varma to popular stereotypes today of women in cinema.” (Quoted in Benita Fernando, “Women Gaze Back at Raja Ravi Varma,” midday.com, 2016, online) In the same interview, author and art critic Rosalyn D’Mello explains that “the women in Varma’s paintings had their own feminine wiles, albeit capable of both seduction and arousing our sympathies... overall, the artistic strategies for depiction of either gender are quite canonised in Varma’s works. These stereotypes were enforced by the social milieu and vice-versa, given Varma’s popularity at the time.” (Fernando, online)

Ultimately, it is the timeless faces of Ravi Varma’s women that invite the viewer into their interior worlds, offering them glimpses of their lives, while their clothes and accoutrements provide clues (and context) to their position in society. A seemingly straightforward portrait such as the present lot can, thus, open up many narratives. “The magic and allure of Ravi Varma’s women is one of the reasons that his paintings are perceived as unforgettable and seductive. Collectively speaking, his women radiate a soft beauty combined with inner strength and intelligence that go beyond the beauty of the exterior. This is the type of face that he associated with women known for their courage and tenacity, the uttama nayika or the high-minded woman of many virtues and qualities.” (Chawla, p. 199)

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