1848-1906, Indian painter. He was the most important and one of the earliest Indian artists of the 19th century to work in oil paints. The subjects of his paintings were often mythological, but they were produced in a European historicist style. He absorbed the influence of such French 19th-century academic painters as William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Gustave Boulanger and of Indian contemporary popular theatre, specializing in the type of mythological paintings that found favour with Indian rajas and British administrators. His successful exploitation (from 1894) of the lithographic reproduction of his paintings ensured, for the first time in India, that the work of an individual artist could reach a mass market.  Related Paintings of Raja Ravi Varma :. | Asthasiddi | Gypsies | Sri Rama breaking the bow | Swan messenger | Sri Rama Vanquishing the Sea |
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BADALOCCHIO, Sisto
Italian Baroque Era Painter, 1585-ca.1619 Italian painter and etcher. His formation as an artist took place within the Carracci circle. According to Malvasia, he may have attended the Carracci Academy in Bologna, before returning to Parma in 1600 as the pupil of Agostino Carracci when the latter entered the service of Ranuccio I Farnese, 4th Duke of Parma. After Agostino's death in 1602, Badalocchio and his fellow pupil Giovanni Lanfranco were sent by the Duke to Rome in order to complete their training in the studio of Annibale Carracci, who was then working in the Palazzo Farnese. Badalocchio remained with Annibale until the latter's death in 1609. He participated in most of the projects that occupied the studio assistants during those years, such as the frescoes on the walls of the Galleria in the Palazzo Farnese and those previously in the Herrera Chapel in S Maria di Monserrato, Rome (now detached and divided between Madrid, Prado, and Barcelona, Mus. A. Catalunya), although his precise share in them is still debated. His first signed works are etchings, one (1606) after the antique sculpture of the Laokoon (Rome, Vatican, Mus. Pio-Clementino) and 23 (1607, part of a series of 54 executed in collaboration with Lanfranco) after Raphael's frescoes in the Vatican Logge; they reveal the romanizing character of his training. Yet his independent paintings of this early period reveal the influence of Lanfranco, which was to last throughout his career; the lively play of light and shade suggests his allegiance to Emilian art.
Aert van der Neer
1603-1677 Dutch Although generally known by the name of Aert, he usually signed himself Aernout. According to Houbraken, van der Neer spent his youth in Arkel near Gorinchem (Gorkum), a town on the river Waal, east of Dordrecht, where he worked as a majoor (steward) for the lords of Arkel. He became an amateur painter, possibly as a result of his contact with the Camphuyzen brothers Rafael Govertsz. (1597/8-1657) and Jochem Govertsz. (1601/2-59). Aert married Lysbeth Govertsdr (Liedtke) who was almost certainly Rafael and Jochem sister. Rafael acted as witness at the baptism of their daughter Cornelia in 1642. Around 1632 van der Neer and his wife moved to Amsterdam where, in about 1634, their eldest son, Eglon, was born.
Jean-Baptiste Pillement
(Lyon, 24 May 1728 - Lyon, 26 April 1808) was a painter and designer, known for his exquisite and delicate landscapes, but whose importance lies primarily in the engravings done after his drawings, and their influence in spreading the Rococo style and particularly the taste for chinoiserie throughout Europe. Pillement had an unusually cosmopolitan career. In 1743, at the age of 15, he moved from Lyon to Paris where he was employed as an apprentice designer at the Gobelin factory. In 1745 he left for Spain, where he remained for 5 years. There he found employment in various cities as both a designer and painter. A landscape dated 1748 reveals rustic themes he was to repeat often: sun bathed shepherds leading their goats and sheep to a cascading stream, a water mill, rocky elevations covered in lush vegetation, and the poeticized relics of an ancient bridge. In 1750, at the age of 22, he moved to Lisbon, where he enjoyed continuing success. The lure of travel compelled him to decline an offer to become First Painter to King Joseph of Portugal ?, and in 1754 he left Lisbon for London. Pillement then spent eight years in England, fully exploiting the English taste for landscapes. There he was inspired by the paintings of, among others, Nicolaes Berchem. During this period he became acquainted with David Garrick, the famous actor, and his Austrian wife Eva Maria Weigel, who became avid collectors of his work. In 1763 Pillement then traveled to Vienna, where he was employed at the Imperial Court of Maria Theresa and Francis I. In 1765 he left Vienna for Warsaw, where his many projects included decorating the Royal Castle in Warsaw and the Ujazdowski Castle, his largest project, commissioned by Stanisław August Poniatowski. He also later worked in Saint Petersburg, the Piedmont, Milan, Rome and Venice. 1768-1780 Pillement again worked in France, where he was employed by Marie Antoinette in the Petit Trianon. 1780-1789 he was once again on the Iberian Peninsula, and in 1789 moved to Pezenas in the Languedoc. In 1800 he returned to Lyon, where he continued to paint while also designing for the silk industry and giving lessons in the Academy founded by Napoleon.