THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The father of modern art in India, Raja Ravi Varma, has finally received a fitting tribute in the capital city. As part of the 175th birth anniversary celebrations of the legendary artist, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the much-awaited Raja Ravi Varma Art Gallery on Monday, opening up new vistas to art connoisseurs and admirers here.
The new art gallery has the largest collection of Ravi Varma paintings. The 12,000 sqft space has put up an impressive display of 134 works by Ravi Varma -- 46 paintings, 14 oleographs and 16 pencil sketches. Along with this, 41 paintings by his brother C Raja Raja Varma and two by his sister Mangala Bayi Thampuratti are also on display.
The walls of the Mysore Palace and Baroda Palace also display several Ravi Varma paintings. However, now the Ravi Varma Art Gallery will become the cynosure of all eyes as it hosts the largest collection yet. The Kerala Museum has acted as the nodal agency behind the construction of the two-storeyed gallery with a budget of Rs 7.90 crore.
The iconic painter was perhaps the first to successfully combine Indian iconography and portraiture (pictures of faces) with Western realism and European techniques. He was one of the earliest proponents of lithography in India, the art of producing a work on a flat stone or metal plate. Here, he used his technique to portray popular scenes and characters from Hindu mythology.
There was a heady stream of visitors soon after the opening to appreciate the works of the Lord of paintings. Navami Anil, a Class XII student beamed as she took in the meticulously display arranged as per world standards.
“I just have to scan the QR code to know more details about all the paintings here. I don’t have to bother the museum assistants at all,” she says.With the launch of the gallery, the demand by the art connoisseurs that Ravi Varma should receive the Bharat Ratna is expected to gain momentum.