Important Notice

Often called the ‘Father of Modern Indian Art’, Raja Ravi Varma is known for having played a critical role in the development of the genre at a time when the movement for Indian Independence was just gaining momentum. He was “an artist of incredible talent who was able to forge a distinctive pan-Indian visual language in a country driven by its differentness...” (Kishore Singh ed., “Raja Ravi Varma,” Masterpieces of Indian Modern Art, New... Often called the ‘Father of Modern Indian Art’, Raja Ravi Varma is known for having played a critical role in the development of the genre at a time when the movement for Indian Independence was just gaining momentum. He was “an artist of incredible talent who was able to forge a distinctive pan-Indian visual language in a country driven by its differentness...” (Kishore Singh ed., “Raja Ravi Varma,” Masterpieces of Indian Modern Art, New Delhi: DAG, 2016, p. 438)

Ravi Varma was the first Indian artist of aristocratic lineage to depict conventional themes with stunning photorealism with his commissions primarily coming from princely states and prosperous professionals across British India. It is perhaps due to this that “the lexicon used in reference to his paintings”, a good century and more since his death, “spans from theatrical and melodramatic to the fantastical and exaggerated. However argumentative, he is one of the most important artists to have emerged from the subcontinent, and his images of mythological figures are imprinted in most Indian minds for being the most authoritative versions that were able to find audiences and markets, whether in the north of India or the south, east India or the west.” (Singh ed., p. 438)

A UNIQUE ARTISTIC STYLE
Academic realism as a style of painting had gained great popularity around the time Ravi Varma began training as a court artist in Trivandrum. This “new way of painting” where “the principles of perspective, foreshortening and highlighting were applied in order to create works that evoked the visual reality of life... changed the course of painting in India.” (Rupika Chawla, Raja Ravi Varma: Painter of Colonial India, Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 2019, p. 157)

It was around the same time that the use of oil paint became the more sought-after medium by many artists. This was because “oil paints remain fluid for a considerable period unlike quick drying water-based colours; they are supple and can be used thick or as a glaze. A brush loaded with oil paint can create volume and brushstrokes that tempera cannot.” (Chawla, pp. 155-156)

As Ravi Varma studied and worked in Trivandrum through the 1860s, he came across other painters such as Ramaswamy Naicker of the Tanjore School who was the first to adopt oil as a medium. A couple of years later, he had the chance to observe European portrait artist, Theodore Jensen, at work. This, presumably, prompted Ravi Varma to begin the process of developing his own style that took his awareness of “the ancient conventions and the new thinking, or past history and present events” into account. “He underwent a process of conscious selection of themes, genre and medium in the paintings he wished to make - the grand historical paintings of gods and heroes and portraits of the rich and powerful. He allowed Western influences to prevail when and where it suited him, and from which he knew he could derive the maximum advantage.” (Chawla, p. 157)

This unique style incorporated the use of oil as a medium as well as European naturalism and academic realism, with distinctly Indian mythological themes. The distinguishing factor, however, was Ravi Varma’s depiction of mythological figures in a natural human style rather than the traditional supernatural imagery used to convey gods, goddesses and their myths or tales. “He selected easel painting and the oil medium over established Indian methods and materials, academic realism over the subtlety of suggestion...But he also understood the power of the epics and classical texts he had grown up with…With the rich and plastic oil medium and realism as his tools, Ravi Varma transferred the wealth of stories and mythology that came so naturally to him, into paintings of great resonance.” (Chawla, p. 158)

THEMATIC DIVISION OF PAINTINGS
There is a clear demarcation between the various categories of paintings created by Ravi Varma. A rich body of portrait work exists along with his mythological paintings that are further divided into subcategories - ““Puranic”, “Religious” and “Scenes from Hindu Classical Drama”.” (Chawla, p. 158)

“The Puranic paintings are generally the large ones, with several figures caught in the midst of a dramatic action... They depict a historic moment from an epic or a classical text, which is intended to be noble, momentous and emotional... the choice of scene had to be an unforgettable one within that particular narrative, which would invariably lead to a series of repercussions and consequences... Interspersed within these Puranic paintings are the religious ones, the interpretation of which is quite different from the earlier category. In the religious paintings the same gods and noble characters from the Puranas can illustrate a certain state of being, or present an iconic or decorative image. They may also depict the consequences of the high drama of a Puranic painting...” (Chawla, p. 161)

An examination of the Puranic and religious paintings that were based on the same epic or classical text helps the viewer realise Ravi Varma’s talent as an artist as well as a storyteller. When observed in a sequence, these paintings help push forward the narrative in a unique and visual manner. This is evident in Ravi Varma’s paintings of scenes from the Mahabharata - particularly the ones depicting Krishna and Draupadi, of which the present lot is a part. “These two compelling characters are strongly interconnected in the Puranas but since their lives are extraordinarily eventful, Ravi Varma makes them strike divergent courses and devotes a different set of paintings to each.” (Chawla, pp. 163-164)

DRAUPADI VASTRAHARAN
Draupadi Vastraharan depicts a critical point in the story of the Mahabharata. While much has already transpired between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, it is this moment, and the ones leading up to it, that serves to heighten the drama further. When the Kauravas challenge the Pandavas to a game of dice with the primary aim of taking away the kingdom of Indraprastha from the latter, things escalate to a point where Yudhishthir (the oldest Pandava brother) has gambled away everything they own - including his brothers as well as himself. Finally, in a state of desperation, he ends up using the Pandavas’ wife Draupadi as a bet - a gamble he then manages to lose.

Exalted by their victory, the Kaurava king Duryodhana demands Draupadi to be brought to the court at once. His brother, Dushasana, proceeds to drag Draupadi to the court by her hair - another incident that has been captured by Ravi Varma via a sketch titled Draupadi Being Dragged, circa 1891. In order to continue her public humiliation, as well as that of the Pandavas, Dushasana is instructed to disrobe Draupadi. Caught in her helpless state, Draupadi prays to Krishna for protection, who intervenes by ensuring the yards of the sari draped around her person never run out. Dushasana is eventually forced to stop out of sheer exhaustion while Draupadi manages to remain chastely dressed, thereby heralding a timely victory for her.

Ravi Varma captures the moment of the disrobing, or the vastraharan, effectively in this painting. The details portrayed in the present lot depict his prowess in representing mythological characters in a manner that conveys emotion, thus making the work even more powerful. Here, we see Dushasana attempting to disrobe a helpless Draupadi in the foreground while a length of unravelled sari gathers at her feet, surrounded by the other Kauravas, the Pandavas, and other members present in the court. The grand architecture of the court is reminiscent of European buildings that were then coming into vogue in princely kingdoms and adds to the heightened drama of the scene - making it “the type of composition that belongs to the proscenium stage.” (Chawla, p. 182)

According to art conservator and author Rupika Chawla, whose book on Ravi Varma is considered to be the most authentic source on the artist’s career and works, “The Travancore State Manual documents The Stripping of Draupadi (Draupadi Vastraharan) as one of the paintings made by Ravi Varma for Sayajirao Gaekwad of Baroda. There is no evidence of this painting but there is a preliminary drawing of it in one of Ravi Varma’s sketchbooks that shows Draupadi being dragged into the public gathering. Rama Varma painted a Draupadi Vastraharan that hangs in the Laxmi Vilas Palace in Baroda, which was made after his father’s untraceable canvas of the same title.” (Chawla, pp. 171, 173) As a result, Chawla used the oleograph as a point of reference in her book and to indicate proof of existence of the painting. The present lot has been verified as being the same missing painting, thereby making it an extremely rare work to appear in auction.

It is interesting to note that the present lot was acquired by one of the shareholders of the Ravi Varma Press, perhaps during the time it was brought in for its reproduction as an oleograph, and has remained with the family ever since.

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