Raja Ravi Varma

About the Artist

Raja Ravi Varma was a painter born in 1848 into the Parappanad royal family of Kerala, India, and died in 1906. A leading figure who introduced a modern approach to Indian art history, he left behind work that combined European academic technique with traditional Indian sensibility. His art took Indian epics and Hindu mythology as its subject, carrying deep religious reflection. He contributed in particular to the popularization of art by making paintings affordable to the public through lithography. His work had an important influence on the development of Indian art and remains connected today to the royal house of Travancore.