Raja Ravi Varma

Raja Ravi Varma is a pioneering Indian painter, considered one of the greatest artists in Indian history, who revolutionized subcontinental art by fusing European academic techniques with traditional Hindu iconography. His masterful work depicts deities, epic scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, as well as portraits of Indian society, rendered with striking realism and sumptuous chromatic palette. By democratizing Indian art through the distribution of oleographs of his paintings, he profoundly influenced the visual representation of Hindu gods and created iconic images that remain embedded in the Indian popular imagination.