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Fritz Scleicher posing with his trophy in the forest not far from where The paintings stored at Kilimanur were labeled and
Ravi Varma’s printing press at Malavali was eventually built. identified meticulously by the brothers on the reverse. Ravi
Varma was aware of documentation, cataloguing, lighting
not have envisaged that his desire to take art to the masses and the importance of hanging over a century before most
in this manner would have such an impact on the Indian Indians even became conscious of these aspects.
people or that it would continue to reverberate till today.
Both the oleographs and the lithostones are now collectors’ Ravi Varma had for long been familiar with the Travancore
items and avidly searched for. royal court, having been taken there by his uncle Raja Raja
Varma Koil Thampuran at the age of fourteen. It was here
Despite the vast circulation of oleographs making their where he met and grew to know some of Travancore’s most
way into hut, house and hovel all over the country, the influential people of that period. Sir T. Madava Row, the
question of the accessibility of original oil on canvas forceful Dewan of Travancore from 1858 to 1872 was one
paintings for the common man was still not addressed. such personality. He recognised Ravi Varma’s abilities and
Ravi Varma was not quite satisfied with this gap in his invited him to the investiture of Sayajirao lll of Baroda in
objectives. His aim was to make a museum of fine arts in 1880 when he moved there as the Dewan. Madava Row
Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram), where, at least, his secured for Ravi Varma commissions to make portraits
people could see paintings of quality. Keeping such an aim and mythological paintings for Baroda, Indore and other
in mind, he and his brother had, for years, painted, collected places that continued for many years.
and maintained their own private collection which was
stored in Kilimanur Palace. They would paint for During his tenure as Dewan of Travancore, Madava Row
themselves whenever they travelled and or when had the opportunity to observe the competent and quiet
commissions took them to different parts of the country. Shungrasoobyer Avergal (1836-1904) who belonged to the
Ravi Varma always had his dream museum in mind and he Travancore State Service. Impressed by his style of
waited for the right moment to make it fructify. functioning Madava Row used him for several high profile
appointments in Travancore. The encounter between
Label of Maha Rana Pratap on reverse board – watercolour on paper Avergal and Ravi Varma was inevitable since they both
– 24"×?18", c.1901, kept at Kilimanur Palace before it was assimilated belonged to the rarefied court milieu at Trivandrum and
into the Sri Chitra Art Gallery, Thiruvananthapuram, 1935. since both knew Madava Row well.
In 1889, Ravi Varma sent Lady in the Moonlight to the
Mysore palace where several of his paintings were already
on display and where more were to come. He made another
painting of the same title for an unknown aspirant which
now hangs in the National Gallery of Modern Art, Delhi. This
very romantic image of a moonlit night and a beautiful
bejeweled woman waiting for her lover would stir the heart
of many an aesthete and certainly arouse in one the desire
to possess such a canvas.
The painting would have definitely worked its magic on
Shungrasoobyer Avergal who wanted a work similar to
Lady in the Moonlight, which he would have seen before it
was dispatched to Mysore. Wasting no time and acceding
to Avergal’s request, Ravi Varma started work on the
same concept but with some changes and with a more
specific love theme. The subject of the painting becomes
special because it is the luminous Radha, Krishna’s beloved
consort, and not just an undefined woman who is waiting
in great anticipation for a night of lovemaking under the
silvery moon and the clear sky.
Having thoroughly absorbed written and performed
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