There is no failure, only un-finished success - Raja Ravi Varma

Even the many Hindu Gods had waited until Ravi Varma arrived, to give them faces and figures of great beauty and grace!

As a child he drew on the walls. His artist uncle gave him the first lessons in drawing and taught him all he could until he was 13.

The Travancore Maharaja allowed him to stay to develop his talent by studying and copying the old pictures in the palace, observing court painters at work and practising a new medium - oil.

Ravi Varma saw the difference between the creations of local artists that were 2 dimensional and flat with forms depicted with colours and lines. Unlike European paintings which were 3 dimensional, had a sense of depth, the feel of light, balance of forms and elegant composition.

He wanted to master techniques to create realistic paintings and paint his own his vision. Obsessed, he read, drew, copied and experimented. All he had was the occasional advice from the Maharaja that ‘perseverance is the best guru’.

The then palace artist refused to teach him. A Dutch portrait painter also refused to teach him, but agreed to let him watch him work for a month. The one secret he wanted to find out was kept away from him - the art of mixing colours.

And this was all the training he ever had, formal or otherwise!

He learnt the art of mixing colours by trial and error. He sketched extensively There was no immediate tradition of Indian art which could inspire and guide him. He had none to teach him perspective, chiaroscuro, composition and colours. He struggled for 9 years on his own.

He painted the Maharaja - with flattering results! Particularly because, a prior portrait painted by an European artist paled in comparison. Ravi Varma had injected character!

He participated in the Fine Arts Exhibition at Madras. He won the gold medal!

Then a prize at the Vienna international exhibition!

And then the 1st prize at the Madras exhibition again a couple of times!.

He had found his niche - picking a theme from a purely literary / Mythological source and painting his vision of them.

At Baroda he painted portraits of the Royal family and Puranic pictures for the Lakshmi Vilas palace.

He painted the family portraits of the Royal family at Mysore!.

And the rest is history!

His unique depiction of human figures with a dream like quality, the glint of jewellery and the sheen of silk and Jari will always be a source of inspiration for artists. Almost every single work was a masterpiece!

The Kerala Lalit Kala Academy has published a biography, simply titled ‘Raja Ravi Varma (1848 - 1906)’.

Google Arts and Crafts has authentic images of RV paintings and even has a gallery view of the Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation collection at Bangalore. One can walk through the Gallery and zoom in to the paintings for a closer study from the comforts of our home!

The Galleries with large Inspiring collections are:

*Sri Chitra Art Gallery - Trivandrum

Maharaja Fatesingh Museum Trust and Laxmi Vilas Palace - Baroda

There is no failure, only un-finished success - is a quote that will always inspire and motivate artists.

The visits to The Fatehsinh Museum and Laxmi Vilas Palace at Baroda and Sri Chitra Art Gallery Trivandrum left me awestruck. The size and scale of the paintings, the depiction of grandeur and knowledge of the fact that most were done from imagination!

Raja Ravi Varma’s is an inspiring story.

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My article in Colour Canvas issue of 15th May 2018.