Raja Ravi Varma's Portrait Photo, 1906 Postcard

Raja Ravi Varma’s Portrait Photo, 1906 Postcard

This is a rare photo postcard of Raja Ravi Varma from 1906. He was awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind medal which is shown pinned to his chest. The medal was awarded to him in 1904. Raja Ravi Varma was a household name in India and is still so today. He had an unconventional method of integrating the European style with that of the Indian painting style, that had an almost life-like effect on his paintings.

But everyone could not afford his oil paintings except for the wealthy few. On the advice of his good friend T. Madhava Rao, (Diwan of Travancore) he opened a printing press in Bombay in 1894. The press Raja Ravi Varma Fine Arts Lithographic Press (or FAL Press) brought out oleograph and chromolithograph prints of his paintings. The great artist himself supervised the early editions of the oleographs.

These were the Birth of Shakuntala and Laxmi. Since Ravi Varma had busy painting assignments, he had little time to look into the press, so he left it to his financial partner to handle. This though proved disastrous because of the financial irregularities that took place in his absence. Resulting in the accumulation of huge debts. To pay off the debt he decided to sell the press. But to sell the establishment was an even bigger challenge, he found there were no suitable buyers. Thus the press lay idle for some years.

Finally selling it off to Fritz Schleicher the chief German technician for almost a pittance in 1903. Consequently, Schleicher made his new business a huge financial success. Which went on to publish millions and millions of copies of chromolithographs. Thus enabling the masses to see their Gods and Goddesses for the first time in visual form. See Birth Of Shakuntala which was the first to come out of the press in 1894, Raja Ravi Varma was still the owner of the press at the time.

Did You Know – he loved elephants and had one time pacified a rogue elephant in his hometown Kilimanoor, Kerala.