Raja Ravi Varma(1848-1906)
He was born into the feudal royal family of Travancore (now part of the
state of Kerala in South India). Varma's contribution to iconography
and lithographs in Indian painting is significant. He apprenticed under
the court painter Ramaswamy Naicker and even studied under the tutelage
of the Dutch painter Theodore Jensen. Varma was very popular among the
British authorities in having him do their portraits. He is more well
known today for his paintings of scenes from Indian mythology that have
an 'academic' style. In 1894 he mass produced his olegraphs at
Lonavala. His paintings had a significant impact on Indian theatre. The
Sangeet Natnak used his style of rendering for their stage backdrops
that was quickly imitated by others. The poet and novelist Kerala Varma
(1845-1914) has written extensively about him.