Raja Ravi Varma Chromolithographs On Show At Louvre Abu Dhabi For Upcoming Show

To celebrate the 175th birth anniversary of Indian master artist Raja Ravi (April 29, 1848 - October 2, 1906), Bengaluru&rsquos Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation is giving nine chromolithographs from the Ravi Varma Press to the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Part of the museum&rsquos fifth anniversary culture season (November 2022 onwards), the exhibition explores the history of Indian cinema from its beginnings in the late 19th century up to the present through more than 80 artworks including photographs, textiles, graphic arts, costumes and over 30 film extracts.

The event has been organized in partnership with Mus&eacutee du quai Branly &ndash Jacques Chirac and France Mus&eacuteums, and will present the richness of the Indian subcontinent's art and civilisation through its long tradition of image making.

The new season explores the many geographic paths and singular voices that have created significant artistic and cultural connections across the globe.

The Exhibition

The nine chromolithographs printed in the various Ravi Varma Presses will be part of a larger exhibition titled Bollywood Superstars A Short Story of Indian Cinema (January 25 - June 4, 2023) organized in partnership with Mus&eacutee du quai Branly &ndash Jacques Chirac and France Mus&eacuteums, and will present the richness of the Indian subcontinent's art and civilisation through its long tradition of image making.

Today, India is the world&rsquos leading film producer, with more than 1,500 films a year in about 20 languages exported throughout Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Through more than 80 artworks including photographs, textiles, graphic arts, costumes and over 30 film extracts, the exhibition explores the rich history of the Indian cinema from its beginnings in the late 19th century up to the present. The artworks come from the collections of Louvre Abu Dhabi, Mus&eacutee du quai Branly &ndash Jacques Chirac, Mus&eacutee de l&rsquoarm&eacutee, Mus&eacutee national des arts asiatiques &ndash Guimet, al-Sabah Collection, Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation and Priya Paul Collection.

The exhibition is co-curated by Julien Rousseau, Curator and Head of the Asian Collections, Mus&eacutee du Quai Branly &ndash Jacques Chirac, and H&eacutel&egravene Kessous, PhD in Social Anthropology and Ethnology, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, with the support of Dr. Souraya Noujaim, Director of Scientific, Curatorial and Collections Management at Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Digital images of two original oil paintings by Raja Ravi Varma, including the alluring work &lsquoThe Coquette&rsquothat belong to important private collectors from India, will feature in the catalogue produced by Louvre Abu Dhabi for this exhibition.

The Collaboration

Gitanjali Maini, Managing Trustee & CEO, Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation said &ldquoThe premise of the Foundation is to share its assets, research, information and knowledge with museums, other institutions and researchers who are keen to know more about this great artist. Working with the Louvre Abu Dhabi, shortlisting the chromolithographs from our collection and brainstorming with them for this landmark exhibition that they are curating has been an exciting process. We are grateful to the entire team at the Louvre Abu Dhabi for thinking of including Raja Ravi Varma and his work into such an important international exhibition.&rdquo

Manuel Rabaté, Director of Louvre Abu Dhabi, commented &ldquoIn a museum that invites visitors to discover artworks from all over the world, we are privileged to work again with Mus&eacutee du quai Branly &ndash Jacques Chirac on this exhibition that explores the image in movement, after our first collaboration in 2019 on an exhibition about the development of photography in its first years of existence. Bollywood Superstars is a feast not only to Indian audiences who are among the most important nationalities that visit Louvre Abu Dhabi, but also to everyone with an appetite for the rich culture of the sub-continent and its roots.&rdquo

Raja Ravi Verma And Indian Cinema

No other phenomenon was quite so responsible for moving Ravi Varma&rsquos images forward as the printing of oleographs that transferred the likeness of his paintings onto an altogether different medium. The oleographs accelerated the decimation of his images and propelled them forward. They were also responsible for the conversion of his imagery into other visual mediums, each adapting his representations to suit its specific stylistic and technical demands.

The well-known pioneer of Indian cinema, Dadasaheb Phalke (1870 - 1944), was one of the artists working at the Ravi Varma Fine Arts Lithographic Press before departing for Germany to study the latest printing techniques and cinematography. His vision was not dissimilar to Ravi Varma&rsquos, having also witnessed from childhood the theatre of his village near Nasik with its mythological themes that were so closely connected with the images he subsequently saw in the Press. Such representations were as essential for him as Ravi Varma, making him transport these themes into cinema in order to inspire the nationalistic &ldquosons of India&rdquo seeking a free and independent nations.

The medium of cinema that came to India after Ravi Varma&rsquos death was first used effectively by Phalke, and demonstrated the emerging sophistication of industrial technology, far greater and in no measure to be compared to the machinery used for the printing of oleographs. These prints depicting sacred and social themes had found a resonance with Indians by providing them a religious and nationalistic identity, so desired under alien rule.

The impact created by Ravi Varma&rsquos imagery, which was initiated by Phalke, gained momentum over the decades, through cinema. Such has been the power and the impact of Ravi Varma&rsquos work and the image that remained in people&rsquos mind and subconscious, giving way to newer and more technologically advanced forms of expression.

Details of the rich cultural and educational programme&nbspaccompanying Bollywood Superstars A Short Story of Indian Cinema, the exhibition, will be announced at&nbspa later date.

The Information

For more about the exhibition and to book tickets, visit louvreabudhabi.ae or call&nbspLouvre Abu Dhabi at 971 600 56 55 66.

Entrance to the exhibition is free with the museum&rsquos general&nbspadmission tickets. Admission to the museum is free for children under the age of 18.

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