About
To preserve and promote the artistic legacy of Raja Ravi Varma through research, documentation, authentication, conservation and education.
The Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation (RRVHF) is a not-for-profit institution established in 2015 by Bharani Thirunal Rukmini Bayi Tampuran, great-great-granddaughter of Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906). It is the only institution in the world working in research, documentation, authentication and education with regard to Ravi Varma and his art works. The Foundation works with public and private museums, collectors, and any collections that house works by the artist. Its activities include conservation (working with conservationist Rupika Chawla on restoration of privately-held paintings), documentation, authentication, exhibitions and publications. The Foundation has a presence on Google Arts & Culture and a social media following of 139,000+ on Facebook.
Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906) is arguably the most widely reproduced artist in Indian history -- his mythological compositions became the visual language of popular Hinduism through the oleograph prints produced by the Ravi Varma Press, which put his imagery into every home across India. His significance in Indian art history is enormous: he was the first Indian artist to use Western academic technique on canvas to paint Indian subjects, bridging colonial aesthetics and Hindu iconography in ways that shaped Indian visual culture for generations. The Foundation was established in 2015 to ensure this legacy is actively researched and preserved rather than merely celebrated. Its authentication work addresses a specific market problem: a large number of works attributed to Ravi Varma in circulation are of uncertain provenance. The Foundation's conservation work, documented through films directed by Anandana Kapur, has restored significant privately-held paintings and made that process public through Google Arts & Culture.
Founding & Leadership
Bharani Thirunal Rukmini Bayi Tampuran is the great-great-granddaughter of Raja Ravi Varma. She founded the Heritage Foundation in 2015 with a panel of external advisors in art, history, conservation and industry.
Initiatives & Portfolio
The only systematic authentication service for works attributed to Raja Ravi Varma. Works with museums, private collectors and auction houses.
Restoration of privately-held Ravi Varma paintings in collaboration with conservationist Rupika Chawla. Process documented through films directed by Anandana Kapur.
Documentation and digital publication of Ravi Varma's works and legacy on Google Arts & Culture.
Research and publication based on the diary of C. Raja Raja Varma, Ravi Varma's brother -- one of the most authentic primary sources on the last ten years of the artist's life.
The Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation's significance is as the institutional custodian of one of the most important legacies in Indian visual art history. Ravi Varma's influence on Indian visual culture -- through his paintings, through the Ravi Varma Press oleographs that democratised his imagery, and through his influence on subsequent generations of artists -- is incalculable. No public institution has taken comprehensive responsibility for his documentation, authentication and conservation. The Foundation fills this gap as a family-led institution with direct access to archival material and family records.
[Atlas Perspective] CultureAtlas profiles the Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation as an institution of considerable art-historical significance. Its research and authentication work is irreplaceable -- no other institution has the family archives, the network of collector relationships, or the focused mandate to do this work. CultureAtlas notes that the Foundation's public impact (139,000+ Facebook followers for a heritage research institution) suggests significant public appetite for Ravi Varma's legacy that the Foundation is uniquely positioned to serve.