‘What India Learned to See: From Battala to the Ravi Varma Press and Beyond,’ a landmark exhibition by the Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation, on view at Gallery G until May 31.
The exhibition marks 178th birth anniversary of Raja Ravi Varma and is both a tribute and a critical exploration of his enduring legacy. It examines how the advent of printmaking—particularly through the Ravi Varma Press, transformed sacred imagery from exclusive artworks into widely accessible visuals, shaping a shared cultural and visual vocabulary across India.
Bringing together a rare corpus of oleographs, lithographs, and printed ephemera from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth century, the exhibition expands beyond a single press to map a broader network of regional print traditions—from Calcutta to Western India. Through recurring depictions of deities such as Lakshmi, Saraswati, Vishnu, Shiva, Rama, and Krishna, it highlights how core iconographies remained constant even as styles evolved across regions, technologies, and markets.
The Ravi Varma Press played a pivotal role in this transformation. By introducing technically sophisticated, mass-produced chromolithographs, it democratised access to art and reshaped devotional practice across India.
Visitors should come to experience not just the images, but a way of seeing. Each attendee is given a specially designed booklet that guides them on how to look at the works, what to identify in each deity, how iconographies shift, and how to trace visual patterns across the exhibition. It turns viewing into an active, informed process.
Read the full story that first appeared in India Today here:
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