Rupika Chawla

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Mapin publishing

Painter of Colonial india

Raja Ravi VarmaRupika Chawla

MAPIN PUBLISHINGPublishers of quality illustrated books on Indian art, culture and literature

NEW

Raja Ravi Varma (1848–1906) was among the first Indian painters to successfully adapt academic realism to the visual interpretation of Indian mythology and adopt Western painting techniques of portraiture. His genre of paintings, which eventually led to chromolithographs (oleographs), has maintained a lasting effect on the Indian sensibility, making him the best-known classical painter of modern times.

This book is an account of Ravi Varma’s traditional background and environment in the context of colonial India, and the relationship of this milieu with his profession as an aristocratic itinerant painter. Many royal families of India and several rich and powerful personalities were patrons of Ravi Varma, who painted their portraits in large numbers. His lingering influence on the Indian mindset is also seen in the works of Indian contemporary painters and artists, who continue to be inspired by his art.

This lavishly illustrated book brings together paintings from royal and private collections and museums, and works that have never been seen before, along with previously undisclosed maps, letters, photographs and other archival material. It traces the sources used by him, examines the techniques and methodology of his paintings, and discusses their conservation and the problem of fakes and copies.

Rupika Chawla is a conservator of paintings based in Delhi. She has restored several Ravi Varma paintings at her studio in Delhi and she also gives training in conservation. Together with artist A. Ramachandran she organized the seminal exhibition on Raja Ravi Varma in 1993 at the National Museum, Delhi, which brought about a strong revival of the artist and his work.

In the book:

Private Lives and the Turn of the Century

The Itinerant Varma Brothers

Cities and States

Exploring the Source

Themes and Preoccupations

The Image Moves On

A Century Looks Back

Painting the Canvas

360 pages, 436 colour illustrations

Hardcover • 9.5 x 11.5” (241 x 292 mm)

Price: Rs 3950

Mapin Publishing 502 Paritosh, Near Darpana Academy, Usmanpura Riverside Ahmedabad 380013 INDIA • T: +91 79 40 228 228 • F: +91 79 40 228 201 www.mapinpub.com

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Discounts offered for bulk purchase

OrdEr YOUrCOPY

A unique feature of this title is

that it comes to the customer

with a choice of two splendid dust

jackets—one showing the portrait

of Chamarajendra Wadiyar X,

Maharaja of Mysore on the cover;

the other with Damayanti from

Ravi Varma’s famous painting,

The Swan Messenger. Customers

should indicate their choice of

cover at the time of placing their

order for the book.