Raja Ravi Varma by The Ganesh Shivaswamy Foundation

29/05/2026

The Missing Diamond Recovered: Could this newspapers clipping offer a clue as to the expansion of Raja Ravi Varma’s studio with the inclusion of artists like Frank Brooks?

Musical background:

ganeshshivaswamy

[Raja Ravi Varma, Raja Ravi Verma, Newspaper, Missing Paintings]

22/05/2026

The Missing Diamond: Newspapers offer glimpses into paintings by Raja Ravi Varma which cannot be presently traced. These articles humble students of his legacy to say how much more of the legacy is yet to be documented.

Musical background:

ganeshshivaswamy

[Raja Ravi Varma, Raja Ravi Verma, Newspaper, Missing Paintings]

15/05/2026

Strong and Saintly: The make-up or vesham of Hanuman in the Kathakali dance tradition seems to have inspired Raja Ravi Varma and even M. V. Dhurandhar. The white beard or vella-thathi brings out the strong, yet saintly quality of the grand figure of the Ramayana.

Musical background:

ganeshshivaswamy

[Raja Ravi Varma, Raja Ravi Verma, Kathakali, Hanuman, Ramayana]

08/05/2026

Skin Tone: A simple shade of green or a much deeper association of Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings with the Kathakali dance tradition? Sometimes narratives are not skin deep.

Musical background:

ganeshshivaswamy

[Raja Ravi Varma, Raja Ravi Verma, Kathakali, Dance, Skin complexion]

17/04/2026

10/04/2026

Enduring Change: The fourth volume of the book series, Raja Ravi Varma: An Everlasting Imprint, the Epics Imagined also examines how later artists like V. V. Sapar and the Sapar Studios carry forward the image of Lord Rama commencing from the Varma mould.

[Ramayana, Raja Ravi Varma, Raja Ravi Verma, Indian art, Sapar, Lord Rama, Ganesh Shivaswamy Foundation]

03/04/2026

The static image created by Raja Ravi Varma was often inspired from the movement and fluidity of a dance form. The painting of Draupadi and Simhika was taken from a moment in a Kathakali play, Kirimeeravadham. Witness the dance as you look at the painting by scanning QR codes incorporated into the book, Raja Ravi Varma: An Everlasting Imprint, The Epics Imagined.



[Raja Ravi Varma, Raja Ravi Verma, Ganesh Shivaswamy, Books, Kathakali, Dance]

27/03/2026

The fourth volume of the book-series, Raja Ravi Varma: An Everlasting Imprint, the Epics Imagined contains the artist’s first and last painting from the epics and therefore pivotal moments in the life of the artist. The Sita Bhumipravesh is from the Royal Gaekwad Collection at Vadodara and the Sairandri is in Mysuru.



[Raja Ravi Varma, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Ganesh Shivaswamy, Books, Indian artist]

20/03/2026

Introducing the fourth volume of the book-series, Raja Ravi Varma: An Everlasting Imprint, The Epics Imagined by Ganesh V. Shivaswamy. This volume looks at images from the Ramayana and Mahabharata.



[Raja Ravi Varma, Raja Ravi Verma, book, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Ganesh Shivaswamy]

27/02/2026

This is the fourth in a series of six reels which examines the hunter. This reel looks at the poet Kalapi who wrote many poems, two of which possibly inspired the 1898 painting by Raja Ravi Varma: an adaptation of the poem “Veena nu Mrug” or “Kanya ane Kraunch”.



[raja ravi varma, raja ravi verma, kalapi, hunter, kannappa nayanar, bronze]