What distinguishes Raja Ravi Varma, the self-taught artist of the Travancore Court, as a painter?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → He mastered the style of academic realism to depict scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Option (1) He mastered the style of academic realism to depict scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata. — Correct. By imitating copies of European paintings, Varma mastered academic realism and used it for scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Option (2) He adopted the flat and colourful style of village folk painting to depict women and children. — Incorrect. The flat, colourful folk style, with women and children as themes, belongs to Jamini Roy.
Option (3) He learnt the wash technique from Japanese artists as an alternative to oil painting. — Incorrect. Two Japanese artists taught the wash technique to students at Shantiniketan. Varma was one of the first Indian painters to use oil paint.
Option (4) He used the Cubist style to create building interiors out of geometric patterns. — Incorrect. Gaganendranath Tagore used the Cubist style, making building interiors out of geometric patterns.
NCERT (2026-27): “Raja Ravi Varma …What, However, flourished in the art schools set up by the British was the academic style of oil painting that used a European medium to depict Indian subject matter. The most successful examples of this type of painting were found away from these art schools. They are best seen in the works produced by self-taught artist, Raja Ravi Varma of the Travancore Court in Kerala. By imitating copies of European paintings popular in Indian palaces, he mastered the style of academic realism and used it to depict scenes from popular epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata.” |