Nair Lady Adorning Her Hair (Varma)
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| Nair lady Adorning Her Hair | |
|---|---|
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| Artist | Raja Ravi Varma |
| Year | 1873 |
| Type | Oil on Canvas |
Nair lady Adorning Her Hair is an 1873 painting by Raja Ravi Varma. The painting depicts a domestic scene in which a Nair woman adorning her hair with a garland of flowers in front of a mirror. The painting was notable for being the first major award-winning work that Ravi Varma had completed. Receiving praise at the international and national level, the painting had brought the young Ravi Varma into the attention of the global artistic community, as well as leading him on to later become one of the most well known modern Indian painters.
Raja Ravi Varma was born on 1848 in Kerala, India. Ravi Varma was primarily known for incorporating Hindu themes and ideals with European styles. Varma was one of the first Indian artists to make use of oil painting and lithographic methods. [1] Ravi Varma was first exposed to European methods of painting when he watched a Dutch painter when he arrived to do some paintings for the palace. [2]
Through trial and error, Ravi Varma had learned rudimentary techniques of oil painting. After deciding that painting would be a full-time profession, he had gone on to do some portraits and other small tasks for important local people. After returning to Trivandrum, Varma had been commissioned to do oil paintings for the Travancore Royal Court. After receiving an award for this task, he had gone on to paint The Nair Lady Adorning Her Hair, which was to be his first point of recognition in the national and international level. [2]