Sita, one of the Panchkanyas (five women) painted by Raja Ravi Varma, will come alive at the Orientation Hall of the Bihar Museum on April 29 to mark the 175th birth anniversary of Raja Ravi Varma.
Organized by the Bengaluru-based Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation (RRVHF), the premiere of SitaAnjana is the fourth in the 45-minute monodrama series by Manish Chandak.
Gitanjali Maini, CEO, Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation, at a pre-exhibition on prints of Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings | photo credit: Bhagya Prakash
Foundation’s Managing Trustee and CEO Geetanjali Maini says it is only fitting that it premieres Sita It takes place in Bihar because Mithila, as the region was called in ancient texts, is believed to be the birthplace of Sita.
Mandodari was the first to be done in 2019. After that Draupadi and Ahalya came. The series will conclude with Tara in 2024 after Sita.
The foundation is also participating in ‘Kesh Kala’, an exhibition of paintings on hairstyles starting at the museum from May 1. One part of the exhibition will have a collection of Ravi Varma’s works. RRVHF curator Archana Shenoy says the foundation is collaborating with the Bihar Museum for the exhibition. The collection will then travel to Ghent in Belgium for one show.
Established in 2015 by Princess Bharani Thirunal Rukmini Bayi Thampuran, great-granddaughter of the royal artist and an artist herself, and her son, Jay Varma, also an artist, the Foundation aims to research and study the works of Ravi Varma, disseminate Is. Also to develop a repository of information and archival material.
“Till then, there was not a single institution working for the protection, promotion and collection of the artist’s works. Scholars like Austrian Erwin Neumayer, Manu S Pillai and Rupika Chawla are on the foundation’s expert panel to help and advise us,” says Archana.
The Foundation has already moved forward with plans to bring out a revised publication. Raja Ravi Varma, Portrait of an Artist: The Diary of C. Raja Raja Varma, which was compiled and edited by Austrian author, anthropologist and research scholar Erwin Neumayer and Christine Schellberger. The work was based on the journal of Raja Raja Varma, the younger brother and disciple of Ravi Varma. “It’s the whole timetable and schedule of what the two brothers did,” says Archana.
“When Neumayer came to India, he compiled all the data he could collect on Ravi Varma. He compiled and edited the book Raja Ravi Varma, Portrait of an Artist: The Diary of C. Raja Raja Varma, Which was published by OUP. He was amazed by the popular art, many of which were being sold on the street, and bought them all and took them to Austria,” explains Gitanjali.
She states that she later bought several pieces from Neumayer. with lithograph.
Last year, nine chromolithographs belonging to the RRVHF were loaned to the Louvre Abu Dhabi for a show, Bollywood Superstars: A Short Story of Indian Cinema.
Rare paintings of Raja Ravi Varma on display at an event organized by the Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation in Coimbatore | Photo Credit: Periyasamy M
The foundation also organized an exhibition, Revelation and Reverence, at its Bengaluru gallery in December 2022, which will continue till March 2023. A stopover in Bangalore. This was to enable visitors to have an in-depth look at the old Indian masters who worked in oils. “We organized curated walks that took visitors through a 100-year-old evolution of Indian artists working in oil. The focus was on Ravi Varma and some important actors. There were artists who were inspired by him, such as MV Durandhar, Kondiah Raju, GV Venkatesh Rao and so on. It was a huge success with people coming to the gallery,” she adds.
Both Gitanjali and Archana emphasize that they want to take Ravi Varma’s creations to new places and people. “We want to bring in new audiences and youth and share our knowledge with them,” says Archana.
The Foundation wants to explore the many facets of his legacy and give him a global platform. “Rather than looking at his iconography reverently, it is also important to study him historically and technically. It was not only the gods who made Ravi Varma popular. He understood heritage management well and he inspired many artists who Her style and palette followed. It was they who popularized her style and created a recall factor,” says Gitanjali.
Working with international curators has helped him see Ravi Varma’s influence and inspirations.
Archana Shenoy, curator of the Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation, Bengaluru | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“At the Louvre, they were amazed by the information we had about how Ravi Varma drew inspiration from European artists like Manet, Prinsep, Caravaggio and Raphael. Now, they are working on how you can introduce Ravi Varma to an international audience. and draw parallels with their actors,” Archana elaborates.
“The intention of the Foundation is to start working on those levels. How much more are you going to talk about the lithograph? How much more are you going to talk about him and that he painted gods? Other facts are historically into his life and times and look at all the things he did. For example, why did he paint? Because Europeans were painting. He did it brilliantly and documented some amazing people. The work he There are many ways to investigate what has been done, there are other nuances, there are other facts to bring to light,” she says.
In the short span of 40 years that he was painting, he brought new aesthetics to Indian art. The Foundation continues to publish a wealth of literature on the artist, his works and his legacy.
A visitor admires Mohini, a chromolithograph by Ravi Varma. , Photo Credit: Somashekhar GRN
As Gitanjali points out, once Ravi Varma became popular, his work was in high demand and many subsequent artists were asked to sign as ‘Ravi Varma’.
“There are a lot of fakes in the market. Talking about what is genuine is one step to weed them out. The Foundation plays an important role in authenticating a work and ascertaining whether it is an original or a later one,” says Gitanjali. work or not.
Since 2016, the price has increased for an original Ravi Varma and even for chromolithographs and lithographs. Ravi Varma never made a chromolithograph. It was done by another artist. But now, the price of even a chromolithograph has skyrocketed, yet he has never seen the hand of the man whose name is used on the chromolithograph. “We are creating awareness about the artist and his legacy. Do you see how the effect changes the dynamics? Now, an original Ravi Varma sells for ₹38 crore. In 2012, one of his paintings was sold for Rs 6.5 lakh in an auction. This way awareness and interest can create new dynamism in the art scene,” says Archana.