Critical Art Theory Of Raja Ravi Varmas - Essay Example

1500/5/H CRITICAL ART THEORY ESSAY OF RAJA RAVI VARMA'S ART While evaluating the art forms implemented by Raja Ravi Verma it is important to understand the nature of art forms under the perspective of Hinduism first as Raja Ravi Verma used a wide variety of motifs and subjects from this philosophy as his subject. It could be mentioned in an early phase of this essay that Raja Ravi Verma was a pious Hindu by birth and faith and thus his art work is heavily influenced by different aspects of Hinduism. At the same note it should also be mentioned that Raja Ravi Verma mostly took the narrative structuralism of ancient Indian mythology as his subject leaving the insight of philosophical approach of Hindu form of painting as depicted in the forms of 'Madhubani', Rajasthani 'Kangra', Bengal 'Pat' or for that matter fresco paintings of fifth century paintings of Ajanta. (Lamb, 2004, 32) However it should be noted that Raja Ravi Varma was noted for this realistic depiction of scenes from epics like the Mahabharata and Ramayana. He was recognized as painter who made a fusion between Indian and Western art forms in terms of academic art. His talents were highly recognized in the west because of the depictions of bright colours and stylishly postured women in sari. One such recognition came in 1873 with the Vienna Art Exhibition first prize. To the western world he is regarded as one of the most prolific painters of the Indian tradition. But this could be termed as a bit exaggerated in the sense that during his time (1848- 1906) there were other stalwarts of the art whose philosophies were not completely understood or conceptualized by the western art connoisseurs. During the period Raja Ravi Verma was working the most prominent of his contemporary colleagues were Abanindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Jamini Roy and Gopal Ghosh of the 'Bengal School'. This was a school of though process that was deeply influenced by the philosophic revival or renaissance of ancient Indian learning or values by the poet Rabindranath Tagore. These people choose subjects from both Indian history and mythology and juxtaposed them with the modern nationalist feeling of the time in late 19th century. Their approach was guide by the philosophical essence of the philosophies of Hinduism with relevance to the political drifts and agitations against the British Raj in India. It was a form of painting with a mission of an extended approach of non-violence. (King, 2001, 143) So much is narrated about the Bengal School because at the same given point of time Raja Ravi Verma's approach towards painting was more religious than nationalist which stands a stark difference with his contemporary artists as he choose to neglect the philosophical and the most important part of Hindu or Indian painting. Religion and philosophy are completely two different aspects of the trade. The religion of Hinduism is supposed to be formulated at around BC 2500 with the advent of the Aryans into Indian subcontinent. But the religion in the context of a Hindu is not so much a faith but mostly a way of life. It could be safely mentioned that Hinduism does not speak of a specific faith or code of conduct but is basically an accumulation of various school of philosophical thoughts. Under this perspective a Hindu is free to choose his mode of philosophy where even the existence of a God is not mandatory. There are six main schools of thoughts called "sadadarshan" within the parameter of a Hindu philosophical essence and four of these schools overlook the need of a God altogether. (Fletcher, 2003, 276) Under these parameters of Hindu philosophy Raja Ravi Verma's approach towards painting was more towards the depiction of epical and mythological heroes in demigods. But while doing so he made them appear like human and thus followed the structural approach of western academic schools of the time. By doing so Raja Ravi Verma's approach towards painting became more western than Indian in these that he painted the women or goddesses of his painting modelled on south Indian women. Thus he completely overlooked the traditional form of art depicted in the Vishnudharmottara Purana as Chitrasutra or the Indian outline of painting codes. According to Chitrasutra there should be different measurements of human, gods, demigods or demons. But Raja Ravi Verma depicted all his characters as basic human form. (Deb, 1998, 321-322) In the same context it would be relevant to mention the 'Company Paintings' during the late 18th and early 19th Century. This form of painting was inserted by the officials of the British East India Company for documentation of flora and fauna of India for administrative and scientific measures. For this the officials hired local native small tie painters gave them the outline of western structural paintings. The local painters did not give away their basics approach but followed the guidelines provided by their employers strictly and thus gave rise to an entirely new concept of painting. Raja Ravi Verma's paintings from an Indian perspective appear to be an extended and polished version of this form of painting. But on the contrary the western art critics saw the entire expression from a very different perspective. For the westerners these paintings were exemplary exhibition of vibrant colours and graceful womanhood against the background of exotic location and distinct clad. However, though Raja Ravi Verma placed himself highly in the context of perspective and details there are lot to these paintings that are subjected to criticism. Firstly, the details of the depiction of mythological incidents such as 'Lord Krishna as Ambassador: Krishna makes a last minute attempt to prevent the great Mahabharata war' is erroneous in many ways. This is because the during the period of the Mahabharata the nobles were barred from wearing stitched clothes whereas the painting shows all the kinsmen including Krishna wearing stitched clothes. This is a huge lack of details. The characters appear more like the contemporary princes of pre independent India rather than epic characters. One reason for this is to make the western audience comfortable with the characters in the aspect of dress. Another aspect that makes the western audience curious about this painting is the colour of Krishna. Krishna is painted in deep blue. But this part is basically in alignment with the traditional form of painting. The name 'Krishna' literally means 'Dark or black skinned', which to the Aryans was a symbol of beauty. As the skin texture of demons are generally depicted in black or red Krishna being the primal force of Mahabharata is traditionally painted in deep blue. However, though this painting is a good example of realistic formation of characters with almost life like postures and approaches it hardly narrates any deep philosophy into the subject. This from the point of view of traditional Indian art is a failed painting as the basic success of Indian form lies in its philosophy and not in the structural resemblances of characterising realist measurements. (Kar, 2006, 241) However the other painting 'Lady Giving Alms at the Temple' is more acceptable in terms of traditional representation. But still the use of colour is much different from the traditional point of view as the lady is shown in vibrant red. This is not accepted for a pilgrim and similarly the lower cast individual is also painted in black whereas the character should have been painted in light ash. Anyway, this painting is more successful because it is able to depict partly the inner self of the giver and the receiver. This representation is a down to earth and day to day snapshot of the Indian environment that also brings the prominence of the later Hindu caste system within the society during the painter's era. It should be noted that the lady offering alms is keeping a fair distance with the beggar as if to keep moderate detachment from him. Note the posture of the hand and fingers are aligned in a precautionary measure so as not touch the beggar. Thus the painter Raja Ravi Verma is found to be more successful depicting the natural ways and behaviours of his native country folks rather than dealing with epic and traditional characters. Such examples of his successful attempts can be seen in paintings like Lady Lost in Thought, Village Belle, Lady with Fruit, The Orchestra, The Heartbroken, A Family of Beggars, Swarbat Player, Nair Woman, A Lady Playing Swarbat, Romancing Couple and Rishi-Kanya. Apart from the factual errors in the mythology based paintings Raja Ravi Verma could be enumerated as a painter who with limited talent exposed the art of Indian painting to the western world who being much ignorant about the basic approach of Indian art philosophy accepted Raja Ravi Verma as the best possible exponent of oriental art. (Dos, 2006, 77) It is not that the contemporary artists like Abanindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Jamini Roy and Gopal Ghosh of the 'Bengal School' were ignorant about the minor details of western art and they all learnt the techniques of western painting but never gave up the aspects of traditional art form and these people incorporated the best features of both the world with purpose and greater talent that Raja Ravi Verma failed to achieve despite better acceptance in the west. References: Deb, S; (1998); Evaluation of Indian Art; ABP Ltd. 321-322 Dos, M; (2006); The Past of Indian Thought Process; Alliance Publications. 77 Fletcher, R; (2003); Hinduism: Beliefs and Knowledge: Believing and Knowing; Howard & Price. 276 Kar, P; (2006); History of Painting and related application of Painting in Modern Society; Dasgupta & Chatterjee. 241 King, H; (2001); Painting Yesterday; HBT & Brooks Ltd. 143 Lamb, Davis; (2004); Cult to Culture: The Development of Civilization on the Strategic Strata; National Book Trust. 32 Read More