Creative Connections

▼

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Raja Ravi Varma's beauties.

Lady with Veena
Everytime I look at Raja Ravi Varma's depiction of sari clad, graceful & beautiful Indian women, I gasp!
In Contemplation
Raja Ravi Varma was an Indian king from Kerala who was also a great painter, during the 19th century.
His paintings are considered to be a fusion of Indian traditions with European techniques. He is considered to be one of the finest painters in the history of Indian Art.
The Milkmaid
He learnt oil painting from a British painter, Theodor Jenson. Whose techniques he used in his paintings. ExpectationYashoda with Krishna
He is famous for his paintings depicting scenes from great epics like Mahabharata & Ramayana.
Jatayu Vadha
Most of his paintings were reproduced as Oleographs and overshadowed the traditional Indian art form in the 19th century, for which he received criticism.There comes Papa
Raja Ravi Varma's paintings portrayed Indian myth with static realism.Lady in the moonlight
I absolutely love his paintings of Indian women and had to share it with all of you:-) Hamsa Damayanthi
You can see more of Ravi Varma's prints & oleographs here.

( images from cyberkerala.com)
at

15 comments:

  1. testSeptember 6, 2007 at 8:17 AM

    im a lurker! But just had to comment on this. I love Varma's paintings. My parents got me some prints few months ago. Just managed to put them up a couple of weeks back. thank you for an awesome post

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 6, 2007 at 12:29 PM

    These are absolutely stunning and sograceful!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 6, 2007 at 2:51 PM

    My friends bought an oleograph on their visit to Bombay and it looked divine.

    ReplyDelete
  4. zobarsSeptember 6, 2007 at 3:34 PM

    those are just some fantabulous paintings. I cannot believe how artistic this king was. Thanks for sharing this secret of India. Awesome is all I can say.

    ReplyDelete
  5. LathaSeptember 6, 2007 at 4:10 PM

    Hi Archana,
    I love Raja Ravi Varma's paintings! They are absolutely soul-stirring! Last time I was in Bangalore, I saw a beautiful wall tapestry at Mrigaank - a store in Garuda Mall. I fell for that tapestry - it was a replica of hamsa damayanti and there was another of the Milkmaid. Unfortunately, I had already gone above an dover my budget at the store and also was limited by luggage restrictions to bring it back home with me :-(
    Lovely post! Thanks for sharing.
    Cheers
    Latha

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownSeptember 6, 2007 at 8:54 PM

    All of these women are so beautiful - soulful and graceful.

    ReplyDelete
  7. cotedetexasSeptember 6, 2007 at 9:41 PM

    Gosh, this is so gorgeous! The pictures are beautiful. Thanks for visiting my blog! Your's is beautiful.

    Joni

    ReplyDelete
  8. GillSeptember 7, 2007 at 5:50 AM

    They are glorious! I would love one. I probably can't afford one!
    These images are exceptional, I have never heard of him or seen paintings like this before. I admire anyone who can paint this way.
    xo
    Blue
    Archana have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousSeptember 7, 2007 at 9:29 AM

    Really beautiful painting, thanks for sharing the pics as well as the history!

    ReplyDelete
  10. paris parfaitSeptember 8, 2007 at 7:54 AM

    Such lovely work - thanks for showing these. I was looking at books of Indian art at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris yesterday. I am always amazed at the attention to detail. Thanks for your lovely comments on my blog. I'll be back to visit again! - Tara, Paris Parfait

    ReplyDelete
  11. VineetaSeptember 10, 2007 at 5:56 AM

    Ravi Varma! He is probably the 1st artist from the south to clothe his godesses in a Saree- unlike the customary comstume of that day. Also last yr in The national Gallery of Modern art- I saw saw 'remixed' versions- not of ravi Varma but a similar genre and thought that was very exciting.

    ReplyDelete
  12. madelynSeptember 10, 2007 at 6:54 AM

    breathtaking use of color and
    the expressions are stunning -
    like the lovely milkmaid:)

    thank you for introducing me to
    this painter - I will be in
    Kerala in January:)

    ReplyDelete
  13. VineetaSeptember 13, 2007 at 2:36 AM

    Guess what, bollywood had discoverd Raja Ravi Varma in a big way too. there are 2 films that are coming up on the great painter- one by Ketan Mehta & another by Nationa Award winning Shaji Karun.

    ReplyDelete
  14. AnonymousJuly 28, 2008 at 1:37 AM

    Hi, thankyou so much for posting this up...its where i first saw Verma's artworks and they entranced me instantly. I was wondering if anyone knew when "The Milkmaid" was painted?

    ReplyDelete
  15. UnknownAugust 17, 2009 at 1:12 PM

    beautiful paintings with a absolutely stunning mix of colours .....the different shades of light are Portrayed very nicely .......

    ReplyDelete