Important Notice

Indian society in the nineteenth century was considerably impacted by cultural shock and structural change that was experienced as a consequence of colonialism. It resulted in a nebulous cumulation of ambiguities that lead to a disruption of any cultural frame of reference against which one's identity is defined. British residents and visitors impacted every sector of society, bringing a vast number of oil paintings and prints primarily used to... Indian society in the nineteenth century was considerably impacted by cultural shock and structural change that was experienced as a consequence of colonialism. It resulted in a nebulous cumulation of ambiguities that lead to a disruption of any cultural frame of reference against which one's identity is defined. British residents and visitors impacted every sector of society, bringing a vast number of oil paintings and prints primarily used to beautify rooms or display in public halls. These new visual references that excelled in illusionism and realism lead to an organic integration of the realistic aesthetic into the popular visual culture. Artists such as Alangiri Naidu imbibed the skill and excelled in oil painting on easels before the establishment of art schools along with an emergence of court painters that began painting in oil with an acquired mastery.

Raja Ravi Varma, hailing from Kerala, championed Western illusionism in the medium of oil ushering and activating a new trajectory of Indian art. He was perceived, by Indian elite and intellectuals, as a champion of authentic Indian art by facilitating Indian subjectivity and themes while also emulating the Western style. Owing to his aristocratic lineage, he soon became a highly paid decorator for newly erected palaces in Mysore, Puddukottai, Vadodara, and Bhavnagar, and undoubtedly the first choice as a portrait painter. Connoisseurs such as the Maharaja of Baroda and the Ruler of Mysore began patronising Ravi Varma for he was also responsible for spreading a feeling of national identity and appreciation for indigenous sources.

Ravi Varma's artistic reception did not owe itself to the connoisseurs alone but his determination to gain his independence as well. With his Baroda commission, received in 1888, he allowed greater publicity by inviting prominent critics to view his preliminary sketches, the works were also shown in Trivandrum and Bombay before going to Baroda. Upon reaching the Laxmi Vilas Palace in Baroda he requested the displayed works to be open to public viewing. By the end of the century, Ravi Varma gained an almost cultic popularity, with a considerable number of artists such as Sri Ram of Lahore closely imitating his style.

"From European practice Ravi Varma may have derived certain formal cliches as part of the surroundings for the royal portrait, namely a partially drawn curtain to allow a peep into the landscape at the back, a flower vase on the table next to the sitter and sometimes a massive pillar in the corner." (Ratan Parimoo ed., "The Significance of the Paintings of Raja Ravi Varma in Gaekwad Collection, Baroda," The Legacy of Raja Ravi Varma The Painter, Baroda: Maharaja Fatesingh Museum Trust, 1998, p. 1) These attributes of what constitutes a portrait, advanced by Ravi Varma's popularity, were executed as standardised modes of portraiture. They flaunted smooth brushstrokes exuding Western illusionistic modelling, which now appealed not only to the British patrons but found a place in aristocratic Indian patrons as well.

Ravi Varma's portraits, particularly as depictions of Indian women, evolved into a trope that went from secular to mythological to representational. "From realistic portraits which are necessarily comprising of single figures, he adopted the single female figures as his subjects since the 1870s. These were given specific characteristics in terms of class strata and ethnic features. Although he chose models, (Maliyali or Maharashtrian women) they are invariably transformed into types and therefore considerably stylised rather than individualized. Here is the artist's quest for Indian ideal type beauty."(Ratan Parimoo, 1998, p. 4) They seem to resonate more with ideas formulated in Indian aesthetics than with the individualism characteristic of portraiture. The present lot is one such example of Ravi Varma's descendants, accentuating the subjects' aristocracy through a detailed rendering of garments and adornments in radiating gold and silver. She holds an ornate vase with blooming flowers, allegorical of her femininity. Her confident gaze is directed towards the viewer, making for a compelling portrait which is convincingly inspired by the legacy of Raja Ravi Varma.

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