The name Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906) is a milestone in the story of Indian art and the most important Indian painter of his times. Apart from his paintings, he also made high quality prints of his paintings – what we know today as Ravi Varma Oleographs – which percolated the masses and are highly collectible.
His works played an important societal role in developing the modern image of Hindu gods and goddesses. Ravi Varma’s depiction and humanization of deities and their stories left an indelible mark on Indian society, and continue to influence how we imagine our gods to this date. His rare paintings however, made for the royalty of the times, were never accessible to the general masses. He therefore, on the advice of a friend, started the Ravi Varma Press, to make his works accessible to the common folk.
The History
Related to the Maharaja of Travancore, he was supported in his art education and then further commissions by the Maharaja and also the British. He was trained in the western style of painting with oil paints on canvas by Dutch artist Theodore Jensen. Ravi Varma was commissioned by the royalty of his times to produce their family portraits of the finest quality, a style not seen before him in Indian painting – of note are the works done by him for the Maharaja of Baroda.
In the late 19th century (1894), Raja Ravi Verma, imported German lithographic printing machines and setup the Ravi Varma Press in Ghatkopar, Mumbai and in 1899 shifted to Lonavala. The press produced prints of Ravi Varma paintings for mass circulation, popularly referred to today as Ravi Varma Oleogrpahs. Due to financial losses, the press was sold in 1901 to Fritz Schleicher (German), who continued to print from this press till long after Raja Ravi Varma’s death in 1906. While in the beginning only Raja Ravi Varma paintings were being reproduced by the press, later the german added more works by other artists to be produced by the press.
About Ravi Varma Oleographs
It is widely believed that those prints (or oleograph) which have a signature “Ravi Varma” are oleographs of his paintings, while those without a signature are likely oleographs of paintings by other artists. However, some prints which do not carry his printed signature, have also been found to be oleographs of some of his unsigned paintings.
The prints produced by the Ravi Varma Press are widely referred to as an Oleograph as the printing quality had an oil painting like finish to them – partly due to the printing technique (chemolithographic technique) and also partly due to the high amount of varnish which was applied to the oleograph as part of the post-printing finishing process.
The oleographs were made in several different sizes, the larger sizes (21×28 in) are more difficult to find and therefore also more expensive. A lot of times the oleographs were also embellished with either Zari and/or Textiles. the The purist collectors believe in collecting the un-embellished Ravi Varma Oleographs, however many people also find the embellished oleographs more decorative and appealing, its a personal choice.
Antique Prints for Collection – Our Collection
Ravi Varma Oleographs were widely distributed and survived in families, passed down through generations. Over time, many got destroyed, however the ones which have now survived are highly collectible and become harder and harder to find in recent times due to being collected by a large community of collectors. If you are interested in oleographs, then please contact us on whatsapp – Click here