Shivaswamy, a Bangalore‑based lawyer, turned to art during a post‑surgery recovery after a doctor urged him to “look at beautiful things”. Scouring demolition sites, he collected cheap or discarded prints of Raja Ravi Varma, sparking a lifelong fascination.

He argues that Varma’s power lies in his appeal to the everyday Indian. While many artists remain confined to elite patrons, Varma’s oleograph prints placed deities on the walls of pooja rooms and even autorickshaw dashboards, making the divine feel tangible to the common man.

This enthusiasm has blossomed into a scholarly undertaking: a six‑volume series titled Raja Ravi Varma: An Everlasting Imprint. So far four volumes are complete, each built from archives, family collections, and on‑the‑ground research that treats the picture itself as the protagonist rather than the painter.

Shivaswamy sees his legal training as an asset. Both lawyers and historians reconstruct absent facts, weigh testimony, and demand corroboration before committing anything to record. His rigorous standards mean anecdotal family lore is only included when independently verified.

For newcomers, he advises starting with the cultural context of Varma’s images—how they entered current affairs and everyday devotion—before diving into the visual details. The result is a fresh lens on a 19th‑century artist whose work still shapes India’s visual imagination.

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