Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906) was the most well known of the early painters to work with oil on canvas. He was basically a portrait painter. He was born in Kilamanoor in Kerala, India. His genius was evident at the tender age of five to six. And from then on he went ahead to become one of the greatest Indian artists. Click here for more on Raja Ravi Varma. You can also find a slide show of his paintings at this website.

 

These and many more such paintings of Raja Ravi Varma can be found at http://www.rajaravivarma.com

 

 

The Tagore family of Bengal were important in shaping India's modern art. The Tagores stressed India's spiritual heritage. They felt it was important for an artist to use his or her "Inner Eye" rather than to follow the academic teachings of the British art schools. Abanindranath Tagore taught at the Government Art School in Calcutta. Rabindranath Tagore, who won a Nobel Prize for literature, founded a new educational centre, Santiniketan, where art was an important concern. Rabindranath Tagore brought together many different artists - from cities and villages, from Europe, and from other parts of Asia. He felt that students should see art in as many styles and media as possible and should have complete freedom in their form of expression. One of the most important contributions of the Tagores was bringing Indian artists in touch with their own heritage - raging from the skillful paintings of Ajanta to the bold and beautiful art of village India. Rabindranath Tagore, interested mainly in literature, did not begin to draw or paint seriously until he was 67 years old. By the time of his death at the age of 81, he had produced nearly 2,000 works in ink and watercolour.

Amrita Sher-gil (1913-1941) gained international acclaim in the early 1900's. Her father was Indian, her mother Hungarian. Sher-gil studied in Paris but decided it was necessary to return to India to fine her own style. Her paintings, many depicting village or country life, show both Indian and Western influences. Sher-gil's career was short; she died after a sudden illness aged 28.

Another famous Indian artist was Jamini Roy. He was born in Bankura district of West Bengal in India. Many of his paintings find inspiration from the Kalighat Bazaar School of Calcutta. He became very famous during the 1940's. his work was exhibited inLondon as well as New York, apart from many Indian cities. He died in the year 1972 at Calcutta.

Among the best known and most widely honoured of India's modern artists is M. F. Husain (1915- ). As a young artist starting out in Bombay in the 1930's, he painted film posters to make a living. Over the years his work has been varied and it includes drawings, oil paintings, enormous murals, and works combining photographs and print. His oil paintings are expressionist in style. Many other works are of everyday scenes. Husain frequently used only a few colours, subtly mixing a variety of shades and tones. He has also recently made a Hindi film called "GajaGamini".