Forty-six paintings of Raja Ravi Varma, besides chromolithographs and pencil sketches by the royal artist, will get a dedicated space of their own when Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurates the Raja Ravi Varma Art Gallery on the Museum premises on Monday.
The two-storey air-conditioned structure will house the Ravi Varma paintings currently kept at Sree Chithra Art Gallery.
The gallery is the realisation of a long-standing dream to have a memorial to the artist who achieved international renown. It was in the works for long, and finally its foundation stone was laid by the Chief Minister in November 2020.
In the meanwhile, the Department of Museums and Zoos also set up a conservation lab to restore Ravi Varma works, besides those by others. The works at the new gallery will include the paintings restored at the lab.
The gallery has been built as per a project of the Keralam Museum, the State government’s nodal agency for museums. Besides 46 paintings of Raja Ravi Varma, 14 chromolithographs brought from Mumbai, 10 pencil sketches by the artist, and two certificates received for a painting expo held at Chicago will be displayed. The chromolithographs had helped democratise painting and take it to the masses, increasing Ravi Varma’s popularity.
Besides Ravi Varma’s works, 41 paintings by his brother C. Raja Raja Varma, two works by his uncle Raja Raja Varma, and two by his sister Mangala Bayi Thampuratti will be displayed. A few paintings by artists such as Frank Brooks, court painter Ramaswami Naidu, Horace van Ruith, and Padmanabhan Thampy, will also be put up.
In all, 134 works will be displayed at the gallery. Minister for Museums Ahammad Devarkovil will preside over the inauguration, to be held at 12 p.m. Minister for Culture Saji Cherian and Minister for Zoos J. Chinchurani will be the chief guests. Chief Secretary V. Venu will deliver the keynote address. Keralam Museum executive director R. Chandran Pillai will present the report.
