“The beautiful face of a soft-featured woman, aglow and illuminated with the delicate hues of pink and purple reflected from the flame of the lamp she is holding so protectively with one of her slender hands, while shielding the flame with another.”… I was awestruck and spellbound. No words can ever describe what I felt at that moment. Yes. That painting has the power of casting a magic spell on you. To make you stand there, in front of it for a while and forget the whole outside world for some moments. No art lover can ever think of any other thing while witnessing and absorbing the beauty of that painting, named ‘Glow of Hope’. This painting is made by one of the great Indian artists SL Haldankar or Sawlaram Lakshman Haldankar(1882-1968). And is also known as ‘Lady with the Lamp’.
I had this great opportunity to witness this grand yet graceful and famed painting during our recent trip to Mysore(Mysuru), Karnataka. It was 29th of September, 2024 and was the third day of our trip. We had planned to explore Mysore (the city of palaces) that day. On that day our first destination was Jagan Mohan Palace that stands in close proximity to Mysore palace. Before going there we had already researched a bit about those places that we planned to visit during the trip. So while entering Jagan Mohan Palace we were quite excited about getting the chance to see the original paintings of the much celebrated artist Raja Ravi Varma with our own eyes. And feel the beauty of them. But we were unaware of the fact that the Jayachama Rajendra Art Gallery (inside Jaganmohan palace) is a storehouse of some real treasures, related to the world of art. And no one can fathom the beauty of those real jewels without witnessing them with their own eyes. As we expected Raja Ravi Verma’s paintings didn’t disappoint us. And they were a real feast for our eyes. But there are many more paintings of many other artists(both prominent as well as not much famous) in that gallery which have their own beauty and grandeur; that one has to see at least for once in her/his lifetime. This gallery boasts of a collection of a huge number of paintings and other artifacts of many of the great masters like PP Ruben, Titan, A. Caddy and Gunoy(miniature paintings) etc.(western collection). It also has the works of Nikolav Roerich(Russia), Jiladin Ville(Germany), Sterling(England), Colton(Italy). Not only the works of foreign artists, the paintings and works of some of the great Indian artists like Abanindranath Tagore, K. Venkatappa, Raja Rama Varma(brother of Raja Ravi Varma), Ishwardas, Subbukrishnan and M. Verappa etc. are also displayed there in that gallery.
Then the question that arises here is, among all those paintings and artifacts, why did that particular painting ‘Glow of Hope’ attract me the most? Because of its simplicity, its beauty and grandeur or the mastery of the artist in depicting a single splendid moment with such intricate details? Perhaps the answer is the outcome or the painting itself, which was resulted from the combination of all these factors. The lady holding the lamp in this painting of Artist SL Haldankar was his third daughter Gita Haldankar(later became Gita Uplekar after marriage). She was a 12 years old girl at that time. One diwali she, wearing a beautiful saree, was lighting the diyas. Her bhau (father-SL Haldankar) saw the soft glow on her face, radiating from the light of the flickering rays of the lamp, coming through the gap within her fingers; while she was trying to shield the flame from the wind. Mesmerized by the serenity of that moment, the artist asked her to pose for the sketch. And she had to stand for over three long hours for that. The painting was completed in 3 days.
Artist Haldankar deliberately chose watercolor over oil paint as the medium of this painting. By this he wanted to show the whole world that he could paint without a single mistake(unlike the oil paint which can be corrected using white paint). This painting is emulative in approach, with no intentional twists.
Here in Sri Jayachamarajendra Art Gallery, the painting is being displayed in an enclave with a curtained window with a careful arrangement. It is to optimise the visual impact of light and colors. To feel and see the “glow” you have to enter that enclave, which is usually darkened. This darkness highlights the luminescence of the glowing brass lamp in the painting. And when the light is turned on, one can not remain without being wonderstruck by the deceptive shades of pink and lavender in the woman’s sari, revealed by the painting. Though the painting was completed in 1945-46, over seven decades ago, it hasn’t lost its glory. It still has the captivating power to fascinate art lovers from all over the world. And is one of the most valued possessions of the gallery. Time and again many buyers have shown interest in buying this painting for crores of rupees. But the Mysuru gallery did not part with the portrait, which was bought from Haldankar for Rs 300. Though at times this painting has been wrongly attributed to Raja Ravi Varma, but it couldn’t lessen the fame of the painting or its artist.
Today Gita is no longer alive. She died at the ripe age of 102 years in 2018. But in this much celebrated painting of her father she still stands as a “Glow of hope”, depicting the glorifying saga of that great artist who had the ability to capture the inspirational beauty of a quite small, seemingly insignificant moment.
