Ravi Varma’s rare Vishwamitra to go under hammer

VADODARA: ‘Swami Vishwamitra in Meditation’ — a title that itself raises curiosity given the fact that the subject of the painting is legendary for his raging temper.
But one of the greatest artists of 20th century, Raja Ravi Varma, visualised the tempestuous rishi in a rare calm composure when he is meditating with prayer beads in his hand.
The 1897 signed painting, is now at Sotheby’s, where the world’s top auction house will auction the untitled painting after 27 days. Sotheby’s has put an estimated price of $7-9 lakh on it.
Vadodara shares a close bond with the sage since its inception. Vishwamitri River that flows through the heart of the city was said to be blessed by Vishwamitra who is believed to have authored the Gayatri Mantra sitting on the banks of this river.
According to Skanda Purana, Vishwamitra had his ashram in Shankar forest now known as Pavagadh – a popular tourist spot 50km from the city — from where Vishwamitri River originates.
Sotheby’s claim that the painting is part of a private collection of Fritz Schleicher, a German printer who had worked with Varma. Describing Varma’s art works, Sotheby’s says that after producing a large number of oil paintings, Varma founded India’s first oleography press in Lonavala (now in Maharashtra) in 1894.
“To help reproduce his paintings, Varma employed Fritz Schleicher, a German printer from Berlin, highly qualified in colour lithographic printing. He was employed as the manager of the workshop. Varma eventually sold the press to Schleicher in 1903, at a stage when the firm was renamed ‘The Ravi Varma Fine Art Lithographic Works’,” Sotheby’s website states.
“Schleicher had 12 children, the youngest, a daughter named Lottie, who had started her education in Berlin, but moved to a private school in Vienna with the rise of Nazism. In 1941, when Austria was in the throes of World War II, she had to move to India with her fiancé, Dr Surendra Singh. Ms Lottie Schleicher Singh inherited a group of works from her father from where this exceptional painting hails,” it adds.
The painting was later acquired by a private collector in Denmark.
Varma was patronized by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III in 19th century and the painter even had a studio near Laxmi Vilas Palace. Varma’s paintings still adorn the walls of this magnificent palace.