The Kerala High Court on Thursday appointed an advocate commissioner to assess whether the Jadayu Vadham collection of paintings of Raja Ravi Varma, displayed at the Sree Chitra Art Gallery, Thiruvananthapuram, is original or not. Advocate Valsala Madhavan has been appointed as commissioner on a petition filed by Bid and Hammer Auctioneers Private Ltd, a fine art auctioneer seeking a directive to find out the genuineness of the paintings.
The court had allowed the auction of three paintings of Ravi Varama last year. However, it had restrained the house from transferring possession of the paintings to those who bid the paintings. The court had passed the order on a petition filed by Archana Narayanan, a lawyer and great grandniece of Raja Ravi Varma who sought a direction to acquire the four auctioned paintings of Ravi Varma to preserve them in one of the best government-owned museums in India.
She had submitted that there were two paintings titled ‘Jadayuvadham.’ One of them is exhibited at the Sri Jayachamarajendra Art Gallery, Mysore. The other one was handed over to the state government.
However, no such painting is displayed at the Sree Chitra Art Gallery. She said it could be assumed that the auctioneer received the painting from somebody who smuggled out the painting.