News & Events / Prince with a Paintbrush – The Story of Raja Ravi Varma.

Berries, lime, oil paintings, Nair Lady, Galaxy of Musician, and a Raja! Can you guess the connection? Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan wove a brilliant tapestry with all of the above and published a book.

The students of Class 6 from the three Brigade Schools were invited to an online session with Mrs. Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan on Saturday, 16th July 2022. Mrs. Srinivasan began her session by introducing her book, Prince with a Paintbrush – The Story of Raja Ravi Varma. The children listened with interest as she read a few pages.

The book starts with a classroom scenario where a young girl is introduced to the works of the famous painter Raja Ravi Varma.

Mrs. Srinivasan introduced children to the various techniques used by the artist to bring out his vibrant paintings. When other children were busy playing, Ravi Varma was painting on the walls of his house. Spotting his nephew’s artistic talent, his uncle Rajaraja Varma took him to the court of the Maharaja of Travancore to study and practise art. The rest is history.

Mrs. Srinivasan went on to explain how his works came to be so popular. Raja Ravi Varma started a printing press that made it possible to mass produce his art, making it affordable. He painted gods with a human touch that made them seem realistic.

The students came up with a variety of questions during the question-answer session. As expected, the first question put to her was ‘why Raja Ravi Varma?’ Mrs. Srinivasan explained that children today are familiar with foreign artists and can recognise DaVinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’, or Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’, but cannot recognise paintings of well-known artists from India. As Ravi Varma’s artwork was already in the public domain, his paintings can be included in a book without copyright violations.

Mrs. Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan presented a session filled with information, anecdotes and laughter, as vivid and colourful as her book. This beautifully illustrated book will help young readers discover the works of Raja Ravi Varma, the artist born into royalty but who earned the title of ‘Raja’ for his artistic ability.