Raja Ravi Varma: The Painter from Trivandrum, India

Raja Ravi Varma: The Painter from Trivandrum, India

Raja Ravi Varma is regarded as one of the greatest painters in the history of Indian art. His paintings beautifully showcase a combination of Indian traditions with the techniques of European academic art. A highly acclaimed Indian painter who hailed from the princely state of Travancore, Raja Ravi Varma achieved immense popularity for his portrayal of scenes from the epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana. The paintings of Raja Ravi Varma are quite often remembered for their awesome depiction of graceful and elegant sari-clad women.

Ravi Varma was born on April 29, 1848 in Kilimanoor palace near Trivandrum in Kerala, India. His father, Ezhumavail Neelakanthan Bhattatiripad was an eminent scholar, and his mother Umayamba Thampuratti was a renowned poet and writer. His siblings were C. Goda Varma, C. Raja Raja Varma and Mangala Bayi Thampuratti, who was also an acclaimed painter. Fortunately, at an extremely young age, he received the patronage of HH Maharajah Ayilyam Thirunal of Travancore, one of his relatives, and undertook formal training in the art of painting.

Ravi Varma achieved great recognition in the west when he won the first prize in the Vienna Art Exhibition in 1873. An outstanding feature of his paintings is that Hindu Goddesses were portrayed as extraordinarily beautiful and were modeled on South Indian women. Ravi Varma is especially noted for his fabulous paintings depicting episodes from the story of Dushyanta and Shakuntala, Nala and Damayanti and from the Mahabharata.

Raja Ravi Varma owed his incredible success as an artist to a highly systematic training, first in the traditional art of Thanjavoor, and later in European art. Ravi Varma's works are a fine blend of the traditional Indian art and and Western Academic realism. His paintings can be categorized into three major sections namely; Portraits, Portrait-based compositions and theatrical compositions based on myths and legends. Though Ravi Varma is best known for his flamboyant depiction of various Indian myths and legends, his portraits and portrait-based compositions stand testimony to his excellence as a prodigiously talented artist. He passed away in October 2, 1906 at the age of 58 in Trivandrum, India.

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