The Travelling Muse

Elitist, and Democratic. It isn’t often that the twain meet. And if they do, it certainly isn’t in as charming, nor as impactful a form as they did whilst bearing the elegant signature of Raja Ravi Varma. In a wider context, there isn’t any artist who can rival the manner in which Ravi Varma’s practice has touched households throughout the country, as well as the lives of Indians around the globe. Over the past decade, his artworks have recorded a surge in demand as well as pricing. Ravi Varma holds the 14th position on the Artery India Top 50 Artists with a turnover of ₹109.6 crore achieved from 68 offered works.

The artist’s unparalleled popularity and reach, was possible on account of a union of several unique attributes—talent, ambition, vision and focus, observes: “Had Ravi Varma not taken the road least travelled but rather continued to play out his life in Travancore he would not have become the Ravi Varma we know. Neither would his fame have been any more impressive than those of his contemporaries at the court in Trivandrum, prominent in their state but barely recognised outside it.”