Ravi Varma In Print: Rare Portrait From Beyond His Famous Press
This striking portrait of Raja Ravi Varma (1848–1906) shows the celebrated Kerala painter wearing the Kaiser-i-Hind Medal. The original oil painting of this print is generally attributed to Mangalabai Thampuratty, Ravi Varma’s younger sister. The British Government awarded him the medal in 1904. Mangalabai was herself a talented painter, whose role is particularly fascinating because she worked within the artistic world of the Kilimanoor family at a time when women from aristocratic households had very limited opportunities to pursue art professionally.
What makes this particular example even more intriguing is that this example was not printed by the famous Ravi Varma Fine Art Lithographic Press in Bombay (Mumbai). The inscription along the lower edge appears to identify the publisher and printer as “Sri Venkatrama Picture Publications, Srisailam, Karimnagar District – 505301.” Interestingly, the Ravi Varma Press itself does not appear to have issued a portrait print of the artist at any time during the long existence of the press (1894 to 1972).
The press, founded by Ravi Varma in 1894, passed into the hands of his German technician Fritz Schleicher in 1901, who subsequently turned it into a highly successful commercial enterprise and continued printing of Ravi Varma’s various works. This print is therefore interesting not merely as an image of India’s pioneering modern painter, but as evidence of Ravi Varma’s art in regional printing, in a less expected printing centre in Andhra Pradesh.
Did you know – the small Telugu inscription isn’t merely decorative; it provides evidence about the later printer and geographical journey of the image, making the print historically interesting in its own right.
