CBSE Class 8 Answered

Raja Ravi Varma was one of the first artists who tried to create a style which was both modern and national. He had mastered the Western art of oil painting and realistic life study, and he painted themes from Indian mythology. He is known to have dramatised on canvas scenes from the ancient epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata, drawing on the theatrical performances of mythological stories which he witnessed during his tour of the Bombay Presidency. From the 1880s especially, Ravi Varma's mythological paintings became quite famous among Indian princes and art collectors. He even formed a picture production team and a printing press on the outskirts of Bombay and mass produced colour prints of his religious paintings. He is known to have taken the art of painting to the Indian masses.