A Princess who Paints Nudes ** 88

Rani Rukmini ‘s title is Her Highness Bharani Tirunal Rukmini Bayi Tampuran, Fourth Princess of Travancore. She hails from a dynasty that traces its lineage back to 1200 years. She is the granddaughter of the father of Modern art Raja Ravi Varma. She has blazed a new trail and now is settled in Bangalore, living almost like a recluse. Her paintings, particularly of the female body have however adorned museums and homes all over the world.

After 1947

Rukmini started painting at a young age and after 1947, she began to develop her art. In-between she took up dance but gave it up as it was felt that a Royal princess should not dance. She reverted back to painting

Exhibitions

Rukmini returned to painting for the simple reason that she loved to paint. She painted with vigor and by 1970 she had completed her first series of oil paintings, which were exhibited in Bangalore to positive reviews. Her second exhibition in 1973 saw 34 of the 39 paintings displayed  being sold in a matter of days.

 International Exposure

In 1976, upon  invitation, Rukmini embarked on her first major international exhibition at India House in London, which was opened by Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India.  He was impressed with her and asked she would paint a portrait of him in traditional Indian attire, wearing a turban and an achkan.  However his untimely death in a bomb blast ended the project

Further success

 She exhibited paintings at Bonn, Cologne, and Neuenahr in Germany, along with invitations fromParis, Zurich, Madrid, and Rome.  Her paintings of “flesh and gems” which had voluptuous nudes in mythological settings were a hit.  She believed in celebration of the human, particularly female body.

Eroticism

Rukmini blazed a trail in India by painting characters from Hindu Mythology in the nude. Swami Chinmayananda advised her not to paint Hindu Mythological characters in the nude, but she rejected his advice..

She wrote: . I am certain …to paint flesh as flesh is, without restrictions…’ Rukmini painted nudes from her ‘Pratiksha’ series was quietly sold into private collections in India and abroad, and was not exhibited anywhere so as not to provoke orthodoxy.

Last word

For the last 18 years Rukmini is living at Bangalore. She spends her time paining and at 73 remains a beautiful woman.  She remains India’s foremost painter of mythological nudes of women. This shows her courage and genius.

Painting Nude Women * 85

My uncle  Parduman died last year. The sad part was that he died unsung and un heralded, though he was a painter of some standing. Sadder was the fact that he had left his family at the age of 80 and come back to Mumbai to paint. But he couldn't re-establish and died lonely. I wish I had been there to help him, but he was gone ere I came to know about him. My memory of him is of a vibrant painter who once took me to a nude painting class.
It was a wonderful experience as the nude model posed before some 14 artistes including 2 girls, as each sketched her. The nude model had her thighs crossed and I felt she was a little self conscious. But over the years I have been wondering why painters have been painting nudes.
While in school our art master Mr Paul once took us to an exhibition of paintings of the famous painter Roerich, a Russian. What caught my eyes were the large paintings of nude women that adorned the exhibition. Being an amateur painter myself, I did sketch one nude of a sleeping woman. Unfortunately it is perhaps lying in a loft at my house.
The charm of painting a nude woman cannot be described. It differs from a naked woman, which some how looks slightly distasteful.  But the Greeks and our own ancient artistes all brought forward the nude woman . Most of the Goddesses of the Hindus  have been sculptured nude in the temples, so I wonder what the fuss is all about Hussein's paintings.
The fact of the matter is that a nude woman is an object of beauty. Hence a painter will try to capture that beauty. One has to see the Paintings of Goya, Picasso and Dali to realise this. But remember nude paintings are not for the voyeur. They are  basically an expression of art. May be at some stage love and sex may also be a part of it, but that is what the Tantra and Acharaya Rajneesh have been talking about.

I for one respect the artistes point of view. My friend  an art  teacher at the Art School commented  ' Look its just an expression of ones innermost feelings.' I will leave it at that. However I have one last observation. remember painting a nude woman is something serious and perhaps that is the reason that all nude paitings never show women smiling. Ever thought of that ?