He is an exemplary Guru, akin to the keystone to Mysore traditional style of painting. Though frail and ripe with age, Ramanarasaiah, who was the Palace artist, enthusiastically carries on with the guru-shishya tradition.
About 35 enthusiasts, mostly women, are learning the indigenous art of Mysore traditional painting under the 91-year-old artist and his daughter-in-law Suma Krishna at the painting workshop being held at the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS), Wellington House on Irwin Road in city.
The workshop, which will conclude on Apr. 24, is being conducted under the 'Do & Learn' series programme of IGRMS.
Some of the participants expressed their happiness with Star of Mysore about being taught by the maestro and said that they came to the workshop after coming to know that they will be taught Mysore painting by Ramanarasaiah.
The finer nuances of painting taught by Ramanarasaiah never fail to astonish those present. Even in old age, his memory has the clarity to recall the compositions of each colour, their Kann-ada names which most of the present generation are unaware of and the mixing of colours to get another colour etc. He says in earlier days, they used only natural colours extracted from fruits, vegetables, leaves, barks, minerals and other natural substances. Brushes were made of different materials like squirrel, camel and goat hair. Grass blades were also used to draw sharp lines.
The artist recalls that earlier, people who were enthusiastic about art but had no materials to practise on, used even newspapers after painting them white.
Mysore style of painting evolved under the patronage of the rulers of Mysore. The traditional artists prepared all materials required for painting like brushes, paints, board, gold foil etc., unlike the present day artists who get them readymade from shops. Then they painstakingly prepared their sketch and painted on them. Mostly religious topics like Rama Pattabhisheka, or Gods and Goddesses like Lakshmi, Saraswathi, Krishna, Eshwara, Gayatri etc., were the subjects of paintings, with the favourite being Lakshmi, according to the participants of the workshop Asharani, Poornima Jaga-dish and Hemalatha Raju.
Ramanarasaiah's paintings are exhibited in Jaganmohan Palace, of which he was the curator, and at Amba Vilas Palace. He is famous for his portrayal of Wadiyar family members of late 18th and 9th centuries.
He says he learnt Mysore school painting under his Guru Keshavaiah, who was also the Palace artist. The Wadiyar family painting in Jaganmohan Palace took him nearly two years to complete. So far, he has spread the fragrance of Mysore paintings everywhere in the land through about 500 disciples. His three children out of eight took up the task of propagating the renowned art in various places — daughters Sudha Venkatesh in Bangalore & Chandrika Pa-manabhan in Mysore, son S.N. Simha in Coimbatore and daughter-in-law Suma Krishna in Mysore. The nonagenarian has been honoured with many awards, the recent being the M.T.V. Acharya award. Suma Krishna may be contacted on Mob: 9739548643.
About 35 enthusiasts, mostly women, are learning the indigenous art of Mysore traditional painting under the 91-year-old artist and his daughter-in-law Suma Krishna at the painting workshop being held at the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS), Wellington House on Irwin Road in city.
The workshop, which will conclude on Apr. 24, is being conducted under the 'Do & Learn' series programme of IGRMS.
Some of the participants expressed their happiness with Star of Mysore about being taught by the maestro and said that they came to the workshop after coming to know that they will be taught Mysore painting by Ramanarasaiah.
The finer nuances of painting taught by Ramanarasaiah never fail to astonish those present. Even in old age, his memory has the clarity to recall the compositions of each colour, their Kann-ada names which most of the present generation are unaware of and the mixing of colours to get another colour etc. He says in earlier days, they used only natural colours extracted from fruits, vegetables, leaves, barks, minerals and other natural substances. Brushes were made of different materials like squirrel, camel and goat hair. Grass blades were also used to draw sharp lines.
The artist recalls that earlier, people who were enthusiastic about art but had no materials to practise on, used even newspapers after painting them white.
Mysore style of painting evolved under the patronage of the rulers of Mysore. The traditional artists prepared all materials required for painting like brushes, paints, board, gold foil etc., unlike the present day artists who get them readymade from shops. Then they painstakingly prepared their sketch and painted on them. Mostly religious topics like Rama Pattabhisheka, or Gods and Goddesses like Lakshmi, Saraswathi, Krishna, Eshwara, Gayatri etc., were the subjects of paintings, with the favourite being Lakshmi, according to the participants of the workshop Asharani, Poornima Jaga-dish and Hemalatha Raju.
Ramanarasaiah's paintings are exhibited in Jaganmohan Palace, of which he was the curator, and at Amba Vilas Palace. He is famous for his portrayal of Wadiyar family members of late 18th and 9th centuries.
He says he learnt Mysore school painting under his Guru Keshavaiah, who was also the Palace artist. The Wadiyar family painting in Jaganmohan Palace took him nearly two years to complete. So far, he has spread the fragrance of Mysore paintings everywhere in the land through about 500 disciples. His three children out of eight took up the task of propagating the renowned art in various places — daughters Sudha Venkatesh in Bangalore & Chandrika Pa-manabhan in Mysore, son S.N. Simha in Coimbatore and daughter-in-law Suma Krishna in Mysore. The nonagenarian has been honoured with many awards, the recent being the M.T.V. Acharya award. Suma Krishna may be contacted on Mob: 9739548643.
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