Raja Ravi Varma’s Inspiring Models – 2 Postcards 1900
Shakuntala with maids
Two 1900 postcards of models who inspired Raja Ravi Varma for his paintings. The first postcard shows the Bombay Songstress a classical musician. She could be one of the many regular singers of the city who modelled for Ravi Varma. These were the scenes the great artist was inspired by before composing a painting.
The Songstress may have inspired him to paint Kadambri. The postcard of the Songstress has also appeared in Rupika Chawla’s famous book “Raja Ravi Varma Painter of Colonial India.” The second postcard is that of a live drama play Shakuntala With Maids. This same scene is reproduced in one of Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings of the same subject, the print can be seen in the Upcoming exhibition features iconic painter Raja Ravi Varma’s oleographs.
Theater and plays were once a popular form of entertainment in Bombay (Mumbai) before the advent of cinema. Raja Ravi Varma was a great patron of these plays whenever he was in Bombay. Models were practically important for Raja Ravi Varma as a preparatory study before embarking on a particular themed painting. Alternatively, he would also settle for postcard images since female models were a bit hard to find in those days. Although the notation on the Songstress reads “1912” the postcard is actually from the early 1900s.
Did you know – that the most famous of the models of the artist was Anjanibai Malpekar, a dancer, singer, and courtesan, who was the muse of Ravi Varma’s later years. One of the subjects she modelled was for the painting “Mohini”.
Past posts – India’s Oldest Hotel, Great Eastern, Old Photo1880., Madras Water Supply Red Hills Lake – Old Postcard 1907., Worli Fort In Mumbai Old Print 1930., Old Book – Old Delhi 10 Easy Walks 1997.
