Celebrated painter and artist, Raja Ravi Varma was born on this day in 1848 in Kilimanoor, Kerala in the erstwhile princely state of Travancore. He was closely related to the royal family of Travancore of present day Kerala State.
During my last visit to Thiruvananthapuram, I had an occasion to visit Sree Chitra Art Gallery that houses around 40 original works by Raja Ravi Varma. This gallery also features traditional and contemporary paintings by Nicholas and Svetoslav Roerich, Jamini Roy, Rabindranath Tagore and KCS Paniker.
Raja Ravi Varma was an Indian painter and artist, considered as one of the greatest painters in the history of Indian art. His paintings are famous for their vibrant colors, delicate brushwork, and intricate details.
He was one of the first Indian artists to use oil paints. He fused European academic art with a purely Indian sensibility and iconography. His pencil sketches were also famous.
Raja Ravi Varma is known for his amazing paintings, which revolve mainly around the Puranas (ancient mythological stories) and the great Indian Puranas and epics, Mahabharata and Ramayana.
Raja Ravi Varma was known for his incredibly detailed and realistic paintings, which often depicted Hindu Gods and Goddesses in traditional Indian settings. He received profound acclaims for his religious depiction of Hindu deities. His paintings were also sent to the World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893 and was awarded three gold medals.
He mastered the art of lithographic reproduction. He set up a lithographic press in order to mass produce copies of his paintings so that even ordinary people could afford them. That's why he is considered as the painter who helped Indians bring their Gods and Goddesses home.
His work is still revered today and has been the inspiration for many contemporary Indian painters.
I conclude with one of his famous quotes:
There is no failure. It's only unfinished success.
--Kaushal Kishore
images: pinterest
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