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His favorite subject was
people, especially women. From portraits to figures and depiction of
elaborate scenes from Hindu mythology, his sense of proportion,
perspective, rendering of skin tones and the elaborate folds and texture
of clothing, Ravi Varma was a cut above other artists. Ornaments were
painted true to the metals, the hands and feet perfectly shaped, the
expressions captured accurately and the colors and composition rendered
with a rare sophistication.
No amount of description
will do justice to the images so that I will now take the readers to some
examples of Ravi Varma’s paintings. I have grouped the paintings under
four headings:
Group A: Portraits
Group B: Paintings of
common life situations
Group C: Depiction of
scenes from Hindu mythology and
Group D: Hindu deities
GROUP A:
PORTRAITS
In general, the portraits
of Ravi Varma evoke images of Rembrandt’s paintings. The darks
background, the subdued light playing on the subject’s face, the
masterly treatment of the ornaments and clothing all are quite similar.
Some of the examples are:
i) “The Student”:
Here the subject glows in the gentle, almost phosphorescent glow emanating
from the table lamp. The artist has captured the intense concentration of
the student as well.
ii) “Rai Pamalal of
Udaipur”: In this portrait the
royal displays a quiet dignity. This is a good example of Ravi Varma using
the dark background to bring to fore the subject’s features.
iii) “Lady after her bath”:
This stunning painting has a dream-like quality, as if the beauty of the
girl is an ideal. Her proportions are accurate, the folds of clothing
accenting the decent amount of nudity. This is one of the most expressive
paintings of Ravi Varma.
iv) “Malabar girl”:
This classic has everything that Ravi Varma is renowned for. If an artist’s
ability can be judged by the shape of the hands and fingers (these are
difficult for the average artist), Ravi Varma scores big in this painting.
The great harmony that the delicate figure of the girl strikes with the
pose, the play of the folds of clothing and the subdued glitter of her
jewelry all speak volumes for Ravi Varma’s authority over oil painting.
v): “Damayanti”: The
most renowned of all of Ravi Varma’s portraits, this painting captures
the melancholy of the heroine and adorns it with the simple rendition of
sari and its accompaniments. The background, including the swan is in
perfect synchrony with the main subject matter.
vi) “Shakuntala”: A
personal favorite of mine, Shakuntala is a star among a bevy of stars
created on canvas by Ravi Varma. Not only is this painting a superb
example of perfectly executed masterpiece, the despondency depicted in
this heroin is quite unique. I adore this painting!
vii) “Village Belle”: A
rare close-up portrait by Ravi Varma, this painting makes a
straightforward statement of a simple girl who exudes innocence. It
underlines the creative power of a master painter.
GROUP B:
PAINTINGS OF EVERY DAY THEMES
i): Temple Alms: In
this painting the artist lavished so much care and attention to detail to
the background that it attains equal importance to the main characters,
the two people. The background also shows his mastery of perspective as
well as that unique quality to impart the texture of the subject. One can
feel at once the strength and permanence of the granite that was carefully
carved to form all sorts of intricate patterns. The woman giving alms and
the young man receiving it are “caught-in-the-action”….a splendid
frozen moment!
ii) “The Heartbroken”:
Another expressive painting that is at once eloquent and one that
attests to the artist’s mastery of painting technique.
iii) “Breast feeding”: A
rare semi-nude by Ravi Varma. While technically the painting cannot be
faulted, absent is the mother’s expression of maternal affection. A
somewhat nonchalant attitude of the mother is rather surprising.
iv) “Romancing Couple”:
This delicate subject is masterly
composed by Ravi Varma. One could get that “warm and fuzzy feeling”
whereby time passes by without the need for uttering any word. One shouldn’t
miss the technique employed in depicting the pillar; the fine roundness
and the straight edges are superb.
v) “Family of Beggars”:
While this painting does speak to
the helplessness of the family (especially in the expression of the girl
sitting in the foreground), I wish the woman weren’t as well-fed. One
never sees a fat beggar in India!
vi: “There Comes Papa”:
The perennial favorite theme of mother and child is depicted in this
painting by Ravi Varma ever so delicately. Most painters find the subject
of a small child difficult to tackle. Not so this artist. What a delight
to the eye! The mother’s expression, the clothes and her figure are all
exact and thoroughly compliments this true masterpiece.
vii: “Musicians of
India”: This painting is not a favorite of mine. I do not see the
purpose of the painting or the way the characters are spread around the
picture as if stacked up on a book-shelf. In fact, the clutter takes away
from the technical mastery of Ravi Varma. However, this is a
well-recognized painting of the artist.
C: SCENES FROM HINDU
MYTHOLOGY:
It is in these paintings
Ravi Varma’s grandeur becomes obvious. Perfectly proportioned men and
women set against elaborate background rival any painting by the Italian
or Dutch masters. I will present the following, in order, without
critiquing any of them individually:
i) “Victory”:
ii) “Draupadi in the
Court of Virata”:
iii) “Jatayu”:
iv) “Rama and Varuna”:
vii) “Krishna
Ambassador”:
xi) “Shakuntala looking
back……”
D: DEITIES OF HINDU
MYTHOLOGY:
In this segment, I will
present a single representative painting of satisfactory image quality I
could find on the internet, a favorite of mine as well, Saraswati, the
goddess of learning and wisdom:
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