Domestic Vantage of Ravi Varma

Raja Ravi Varma, born in an aristocratic family extensively painted Indian Royalty, Indian and British men of power, rich businessmen and aristocrats. However he continuously worked towards making art available to the common man. He encouraged the establishment of a picture gallery in Travancore (now Thiruvananthapuram) and supplied many paintings to the Ravi Varma Press. This exhibit explores Ravi Varma's paintings and sketches of the common man capturing scenes of domesticity.

To be allowed a glance inside a common home would have also been a rare privilege. This sketch is a rare view of a Tamil Brahmin girl (dressed in the nine-yard saree typical of the caste) with her children and a widow (presumably her mother-in-law). The widow is attired in a saree which would be worn over the head. Widows in South India would remove all jewellery, shave their heads and cover their heads with the saree. So, while the young girl is seen with bangles, the widow has none. This sketch is captured from the vantage point within a bramhin house.

Raja Ravi Varma had many patrons from the Parsi community and was invited into their homes. He availed of the opportunity to capture them in a familial setting as in this case. The Parsi family is gathered around a table over tea as an elderly gentleman reads a book while children go about playing.

Raja Ravi Varma and his brother Raja Raja Varma extensively traveled across India and used the Railways and waterways of the Malabar region. The trains were invariably delayed which time was used by Raja Ravi Varma to make many sketches of ordinary life. The vantage point of the railway station or the surrounding area was the perfect spot to paint the common man while waiting for a delayed train.

With men, it was easier to ask them to pose and so they did. With eyes of curiosity they allowed the artist to capture their likeness onto the sketch book.

One of the ten paintings sent by Raja Ravi Varma to the World Columbian Exposition, 1893 in Chicago was this painting of a scene depicting Poverty.  A woman with ragged apparel sings to provide for her three children. The artist captures desperation of the poor with much sensitivity. What is evident is that the artist's brush treated the rich and poor alike as in this beautiful painting epitomizing the line "Walk with Kings- Nor Lose the Common Touch" from Rudiyard Kipling's poem "If."