BENGALURU: The Indian woman was redefined with the era of the Raja Ravi Varma paintings. Soft, beautiful, and often central to his theme, the women in his portraits grew to be displayed in homes throughout India, and Raja Ravi Varma became a household name. Ganesh Shivaswamy recently launched his first book of a six-volume series, detailing the works of Ravi Varma. The series titled Raja Ravi Varma: An Everlasting Impact, contain around 1,800 images of the paintings and photographs related to Raja Ravi Varma and the people surrounding him, across the volumes.
The first book is subtitled Volume 1: Shaping of the Artist. It goes into detail about the influences in Ravi Varma’s life and also the importance of the surroundings that shaped him and his art. Shivaswamy, an advocate from Bengaluru, has passionately dedicated time and effort into creating this anthology that critically analyses and encompasses the life of the artist.
“One major difference between this series and the rest of the works out there on Raja Ravi Varma is that I have chosen to take him in a larger context, rather than in isolation. I want to switch off the spotlight on him and switch on the floodlights to reveal the backstage behind his works. In order to highlight the importance of the cultural aspects of his work, I want to bring into the picture the role that the Raja Ravi Varma Press had in influencing the reach of his paintings,” shares Shivaswamy.
Academic in his way of interpreting the paintings, Shivaswamy’s presentation is a deep dive into the first volume. With multiple rare paintings, and an analysis given on each, Shivaswamy meticulously takes the audience into a world of intricate sketches and paintings that reveal the people who worked behind the scenes. Rare, water-coloured paintings like the ‘Dasara Procession of Mysore’, and multiple horse paintings were displayed, with quirky facts and interesting stories behind them.
Ravi Varma’s paintings highlighted the rapidly changing India, and the result of that is addressed in the book. “The series is the only one that has the most number of the Gaekwad paintings or the Baroda paintings collection, and many paintings are featured for the first time,” he says. From comparisons to false fiction that are painted around the life and works of Ravi Varma, this book has it all.
This series is Shivaswamy ’s tribute to the 175th birth anniversary of Ravi Varma, which was on April 29, 2023. All six volumes are ready, with the entire series spanning over 2,140 plus pages. Touted to be one of the most comprehensive collections of his paintings, with more releases to come after the first volume, the excitement of all the rasikas of Raja Ravi Varma and his paintings build with each passing day.