Raja Ravi Varma and the 1893 Chicago Exhibition

1.
The life of an aristrocatic Muslim is depicted in the 'Begum at the Bath'.

2.
'There comes Papa' was a mother carrying her son who gestures to the arrival of Papa. It is to be mentioned that Ravi Varma used his daughter, Mahaprabha, as a model for this painting.

3.
'Decking the Bride' depicts a Parsi maiden being adorned by her mother and sister before the marriage ceremony.

4.
'The Gypsies of South India' depicts a nomadic tribal woman singing to the tanpura, a little girl with a wistful far away look in her eyes, and a boy preoccupied with his itches.

5.
'The Bombay Singer' is a lady once seen at marriages and nautch parties; here her sitar and pan-supari are beside her.

6.
'Expectation' is a young woman dressed in Hindu style waiting for her lover.

7.
'The Malabar Beauty' represented a woman with her hair adorned with jasmine enjoying the music of the Veena.

While it is uncertain if this is the very painting which traveled to Chicago, this painting conforms to the description as found in the biographies of Ravi Varma.

Raja Ravi Varma sent a painting described by biographers in the following words:
At the well depicts a daughter-in-law of a South Indian bramhin house who is tired of her chores yet her mother in law never ceases scolding her.

A painting of this description has hitherto not been found. However, there is a sketch by Varma which meets this description.

This is a vintage photograph of a painting by Raja Ravi Varma of a Tamil brahmin lady by the well. However it does not meet the exact description as stated in the biographies.

All the paintings were accepted for the exhibition and Ravi Varma was awarded two medals.

The one for ‘Specific Merit' read:
“The series of well executed paintings give a good idea of the progress in instruction in Art. They are true to nature in form and color and preserve the costumes, current fashions and social features.”

The other citation read:
“This series of ten paintings in oil colors by Ravi Varma, court painter to several presidencies of India, is of much ethnological value; not only do the faces of the high caste ladies which are portrayed give the various types of localities, but the Artist’s careful attention to the details of the costume and articles used in the social and ceremonial life he has depicted render the paintings worthy of special commendation.”