Meet the Artist (MTA) is a permanent in-house program of JDCA, where invited artists, craft persons or scholars through their illustrated presentations create an appreciation of all forms of visual art. 

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Since 2001, 270 such MTAs have taken place on the second Saturday of every month. Currently, our session is in collaboration with the India International Centre, New Delhi and is online. 

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271 Meet the Artist 
Ganesh V Shivaswamy 

The Unseen Raja Ravi Varma

at 5 pm, Saturday, 9 December 2023

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About the Talk

Ravi Varma has been largely explored in isolation and this is how many academicians have dealt with his legacy. However, there is a lot more to Ravi Varma. For instance, his obsession with equestrian imagery, the use of photography, and myths around his inspiration have all been overlooked. The lesser-known works and all those who worked behind the scenes helped him build his image. All of these will be explored in the presentation.

 

Ganesh V Shivaswamy

Ganesh V Shivaswamy is a lawyer in Bengaluru but his passion lies in structuring the artistic legacy of Raja Ravi Varma. He has a substantial collection of chromolithographs from the Ravi Varma Press. In 2006, he commemorated the centennial death anniversary of the artist by creating the first online catalogue of prints from the Press. Ganesh continues his research on the artist and is the author of a six-volume book series, Raja Ravi Varma: An Everlasting Imprint which explores the social, religious and aesthetic impact of the images from the Ravi Varma Press on the people of the Indian sub-continent and beyond.

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