Raja Ravi Varma
Also called: Ravi Varma · Topic: Print Culture and the Modern World · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 2 "Nationalism in India"; Class 10, Ch 5 "Print Culture and the Modern World"
Meaning
Raja Ravi Varma (1848–1906) was a painter from Travancore. He mixed European realistic painting with Indian themes, especially gods and goddesses and scenes from the epics. He printed his paintings in large numbers, so cheap copies reached ordinary homes. He was part of a new visual culture at the end of the nineteenth century. Mass-produced images shaped how people pictured religion and tradition.
Example
From 1894, the Ravi Varma Press near Bombay printed his mythological pictures, such as images of Lakshmi and Saraswati. Cheap prints and calendars of these images sold in bazaars, and even the poor could afford them.
Don't confuse with
- Abanindranath Tagore: a later Bengal artist who rejected Ravi Varma's European style and created a more "Indian" style of painting.