Capturing royalty on canvas

Artist Masuram Ravikanth is well-known for creating paintings inspired by the bygone era. While his works reflect the majesty and lavishness of the aristocrats, the artist uses them to look back at history and contemplate about the past in comparison to the modern era. 

The Hyderabad-based artist, who studied fine arts from S.N. School, Central University, recently came back from a residency programme in Bordeaux, France, about which he talks enthusiastically. “Of the many experiences I assimilated from my trip, the most precious ones have been of experiencing the original works of great masters like Picasso. We see these works frequently in art books but to stand in front of them was like a dream come true,” he says. When asked about one striking aspect of the contemporary art scene in France, Masuram says, “The artists there are mostly working with new techniques, installations and building conceptual works. I have many ideas regarding experimenting with new media as I feel my perspective has broadened and evolved in many ways.”

Masuram also talks about his recent series. “For the series, I have worked on archival photographs sourced from Kalakriti Archives. These are precious treasures and were clicked by the famous photographer Deen Dayal.”

His works bridge the gap between the bygone era and contemporary times in a completely novel, allegorical manner. These photographs are exquisite relics of the past. On them he has superimposed motifs and other images, which grant them a completely new dimension and span.

The photographs have been manually painted with excerpts and stylistic emblems, picked up from the works of great Indian masters such as Laxma Goud and T. Vaikuntam. The grafted face builds a peculiar assemblage in a uniquely bold manner. The works reinstate the common aspects that have stayed with mankind forever. 

One of the works that is being profusely discussed contains an inserted section from Bharat Mata, the famous work by M.F. Hussain. The artist explains his perspective, “The work, just like the others from the series, blends two time periods together. The painted imagery is a symbolic reference that is there to support the dialogue.”