Birth of Shakuntala
Raja Ravi VarmaCirca 1890
The Ganesh Shivaswamy Foundation
Bengaluru, India
The Birth of Shakuntala, also referred to as Shakuntala Janm, depicts the scene immediately after Shakuntala is born. The mother, Menaka, devoid of all maternal feeling for the baby taunts the father Vishwamitra with the child. This is the moment where she unhesitatingly declines all future responsibility over the baby and attempts to give it to the father. The father also refutes the child which would be left abandoned in the forest. This painting is important as it forms the exemplar for the first chromolithograph printed at the Ravi Varma Fine Art Lithographic Press. The first oleograph derived from this painting is titled "Birth of Sakoontala" and was first launched on July 12, 1894.
- Title: Birth of Shakuntala
- Creator: Raja Ravi Varma
- Date Created: Circa 1890
- Location: India
- Physical Dimensions: 90 x 55 cms
- Type: Painting
- Original Source: Collection of Raja S.V. Adithya Lakshma Rao, Jatprole.
- Rights: Curatorial rights: The Ganesh Shivaswamy Foundation, Bengaluru
- Medium: Oil on Canvas
- Creator's Lifetime: 1848-04-29/1906-10-02
- Creator's Biography: Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906) was a prolific Indian artist who is recognized for his resorting to the academic realistic style of painting. His portraits of English and Indian royalty and aristocracy were well received. His paintings on Hindu religious and mythological subjects and paintings from classical and literary sources were highly sought after even during his lifetime. He painted several copies of his works and this demand led to the suggestion to have his paintings printed in the form of oleographs. The Ravi Varma Fine Art Lithographic Press was established in Bombay (now Mumbai) and commenced operations in 1894. Many of Ravi Varma's paintings were printed as chromolithographs at this Press. These chromolithographs would have a tremendous impact on religion, society and aesthetics. They went on to democratize art leading to immortalize Ravi Varma in the minds of the people of the Indian subcontinent.
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