Landscape Paintings are those in which the primary subject matter of the artwork is nature. Yes! This is as simple. Drawing and capturing the youth of nature are known as landscapes. In India, flora and fauna were an indispensable part of the drawings, but they were never a primary concern. Initially, the motifs were religious and mythological, so the scope of a painting depicting just nature was less.
Landscapes paintings were introduced by European travelers in India. Raja Ravi Varma is known for creating some of the breathtaking famous landscape paintings. However, his technique and style were criticized. He was being condemned for portraying the women in an unacceptable manner. Recently, he was in news, not for depicting humans in a compromising manner but, for detailing fauna in his works.
Art students can peruse his paintings in a botanical sense. A study was conducted which traces the relationship between the paintings and depiction of fauna in them. The name of the study is ‘Encounters of his brush with the Botanical’. Approximately, thirty-three paintings of the great painter were taken by The Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation for conducting the research. The study encapsulated in a short video and a hundred-page booklet marking the highlights published on 28th April 2019 at the prestigious Raja Ravi Varma at the National Gallery for Modern Art (NGMA) as a tribute to the great painter and to mark his 171st birth anniversary.
According to Gitanjali Maini, CEO & Managing Trustee, The Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation, Encounter With the Botanical is extensive research on different botanical patterns in Raja Ravi Varma’s works. Geetanjali Sachdev, Dean, Postgraduate Program of the Srishti School of Art, Design, and Technology is an associate facilitating the research. Maini claims that research is conducted to identify the different forms of species painter by Varma. It would help in marking the specific features of the fauna meant for botanical perusal. The main focus is on how every plant, fruit, tree, leaves, and vegetables are portrayed in the painting.
The symbology behind Ravi Varma’s Paintings
Maini says that the project of perusing the botanical aspect in the paintings of Raja Ravi Varma started on a smaller scale and the purpose was to create something new and refreshing. The foundation wanted to give something concrete and different to ponder upon to the class of viewers who were interested in the iconology incorporated in his paintings. So, the foundation contacted Geetanjali Sachadeva and thus, with her contribution, the project was conceptualized. As a result, a flyer and a 100-page booklet were created. The project was also extended to incorporate the various species of fauna in a manual for people to get a better understanding.
What was the purpose behind the iconology of fauna in the paintings?
When this questioned was asked, Maini replied, “It’s about the realism from every botanical element that he has reproduced as close to the actual species as well as the use of colors and textures to enhance these elements. Plant motifs do not always share a visual correspondence with real plants, and are often abstract and stylized.”
We can learn a lot about the frame of mind of the painter in which he created the idea. Various small things tell us about the circumstances in which he might have been brought up. For example, paintings of Salvador Dali depict how his life was struck by war and other negative emotions. A burning Giraffe in his paintings makes it evident. One of his famous landscape paintings, the Metamorphosis of Narcissus, paintings showed that he was influenced by great psychologist Sigmund Freud. Similarly, we can say that Raja Ravi Varma was greatly influenced by the beauty of nature.
His paintings are filled with things of daily use like a Pooja Thaali, a basket full of flowers to offer to a deity, a baby’s toys, the scenic beauty that is incorporated in his paintings—these things imply toward his inclination towards drawing with utmost perfection and detailed accounts that were largely anecdotal. Flora and fauna have many roles to play in Hindu Mythology and his paintings were largely based on these. For example, in his painting depicting the abduction of Sita, he has carved the bird Jatayu who tried to save her with aesthetic realism.
He was often criticized for painting women in paintings as pale and only women of lower castes were depicted as dark-skinned. This was because of European influence on his paintings. But, he captured the scenic beauty of nature with unadulterated dedication.
There are pieces of evidence that can explain how he was so affected by a variety of plants. One of the influences is his mother. His mother was a poet and an artist. She also had a knowledge of Ayurveda in which herbal plants are used for curing a disease.
The time in which his artistic creation grew was supportive of agriculture. So, the depiction of paddy fields in his paintings did not come with a surprise. The study would enlighten various these aspects and would help in the promotion of Varma’s work.