Raja Ravi Varma’s rare painting ‘Little Prince of Courage’ will be auctioned, can get up to Rs 30 crore

Lucknow, Read. Famous auction house ‘Ashtaguru’ is going to organize a special online auction named ‘Collector’s Choice’ this month. The biggest attraction of this auction will be the rare painting ‘Little Prince of Courage’ by the great Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma. Auctioneers expect the price of this painting to reach between Rs 20 crore to Rs 30 crore.

Royal portrait of the Prince of Pudukkottai

The ‘Little Prince of Courage’ painting depicts Marthanda Bhairava Tondaiman, the young prince of the Pudukkottai princely state, with royal splendor and dignity. This picture is counted among the most famous royal pictures of Raja Ravi Varma. According to art experts, this painting is important not only for its excellent artistry, but the historical story behind it also makes it special.

Gave up the throne for his girlfriend

The life of the hero of this picture, Prince Martand Bhairav ​​Tondaiman, was also quite interesting. He later decided to ignore colonial traditions and royal expectations and marry his Australian girlfriend Molly Fink. For this he even gave up his throne. This is the reason why this painting is considered very important from both history and art point of view.

Got the job of the royal family by a coincidence

According to the auction catalogue, Raja Ravi Varma met the newly appointed Sirkele (Prime Minister) of the Pudukkottai princely state, A., at the Trichinapalli railway station in the year 1878. She was married to Sashiya Shastri. After this chance meeting, Verma was entrusted with the responsibility of preparing a series of portraits of the royal family. ‘Little Prince of Courage’ is considered one of the major works of the same series.

Works of many veteran artists will also be included

This online auction of Ashtaguru will be held on 22nd and 23rd June. Rare works of many eminent artists of the Indian art world will also be presented in it. These include M.F. Hussain, F.N. Names like Souza, Hemendranath Majumdar, Ganesh Paine, Shakti Burman and Himmat Shah are included.

Hussain’s ‘Sawni’ also center of attraction

MF in auction Hussain’s famous painting ‘Sawni’ is also included, which he made around 1960. The bidding for this artwork is expected to be between Rs 3.50 crore to Rs 5.50 crore. Apart from this, K.H. Ara, J. Swaminathan, Ram Kumar, Satish Gujral, Jogen Chaudhary and K.G. Paintings, sculptures and works on paper by many artists including Subramanian will also be part of the auction.

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