A major exhibition examining the evolution of India’s print culture through printmaking is currently on view at Gallery G, Bengaluru. Titled “What India Learned to See: From Battala to the Ravi Varma Press and Beyond,” the show has been organised by the Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation and will run until May 31.
The exhibition brings together a rare collection of oleographs, lithographs, and printed ephemera from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth century, offering insight into how print technologies transformed artistic access and public imagination in India.
At its core is the legacy of Raja Ravi Varma, whose pioneering press played a critical role in democratizing art. By translating academic oil paintings into affordable prints, the Ravi Varma Press enabled widespread circulation of mythological imagery, standardising the visual representation of deities such as Lakshmi, Saraswati, Vishnu, and Krishna. These images moved beyond elite spaces into homes and public domains, shaping a shared cultural vocabulary across the subcontinent.
Expanding beyond Ravi Varma’s contributions, the exhibition situates his work within a broader network of regional print traditions, including those from Calcutta’s Battala presses and Western India. Through comparative displays, it highlights how recurring iconographic elements, such as the lotus, veena, conch, and flute remained consistent even as stylistic variations emerged due to regional aesthetics, technological developments, and market dynamics.
By foregrounding themes of repetition, variation, and circulation, the exhibition repositions printmaking as a generative force in Indian art history rather than merely a reproductive medium.
Rukmini Varma, Chairperson of the Foundation, noted that the exhibition coincides with the birth anniversary of Raja Ravi Varma and underscores the importance of accessibility. “This visual inheritance was never meant to be limited, but shared,” she said.
Gitanjali Maini, Managing Trustee and CEO, emphasised the Foundation’s non-commercial approach to prints, describing them as a “shared visual inheritance” embedded in public imagination rather than objects of exclusivity. Trustee Jay Varma added that the exhibition offers audiences a sense of participation in Ravi Varma’s legacy, making it an “inclusive gesture.”
Drawing on archival research alongside the Foundation’s collection, the exhibition reflects its ongoing commitment to scholarship, preservation, and public engagement. Through this presentation, the Foundation continues to expand discourse around one of India’s most influential artistic traditions.
The Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation is dedicated to preserving and promoting the artist’s legacy through exhibitions, publications, and conservation initiatives, working at the intersection of research and public access.
The exhibition is on view at Gallery G, Lavelle Road, Bengaluru, until May 31.
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