Posted on: 6 January 2013

Portrait of a Young Priest
By Ramaswamy Naidu
Signed, inscribed and dated 'R. RAMA SAMY NAIDOO TREVANDRUM 1877' (lower right)
Oil on canvas

Ramaswamy Naidu was a contemporary of Raja Ravi Varma and was the court artist of Travancore. Naidu was trained both in the traditional style and in the current style of western illusionism. At a time when Ravi Varma was keen to study oil painting, Naidu refused to teach him, sensing in him a potential rival. Several sources suggest that this rebuke encouraged Ravi Varma to excel in this genre, and ironically it was Naidu's pupils who helped Varma secretly learn the technique of oil painting.

Ramaswamy Naidu remained Ravi Varma's rival seeking to outpaint him at the Madras Exhibition of 1873. Although Ravi Varma is supposed to have won the prize at the prestigious Vienna Universal Exhibition the same year, it was Naidu who was mentioned in the exhibition catalogues.

This portrait of a young priest demonstrates the artist's grasp of the new technique of western illusionism.

© Christie's 2012


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beautiful

Strokes and the lighting effect is so good .

It is said by scholars of Indian art that through the centuries, practitioners had never been interested in perfecting the duplication of reality through art, but to personify and thus preach to the masses the import of spiritual insight. Depiction of ordinary human beings are rare in Indian art, their elements being either symbolic or suprahuman. The imagery of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas too, though conforming to human outlines, do not depict reality - a youthful body as against an emaciated one of Gautama in meditation, for example - but seek to convey a spiritual energy. It was for some of these reasons that critics like Coomaraswamy didn't warm up to the such works of Western realism and those by Ravi Varma.

The light and shade effect is awesome.

Traditional, classic style. Improves the reality that a photograph might have produced. I like it.

excellent

Interesting play of light and shade, great work.

Brilliant strokes and the play of the lights..