Madathil Vasudevan, popularly identified as M. V. Devan (15 January 1928 – 29 April 2014), was an Indian painter, sculptor, writer, art critic and orator.

M. V. Devan was born on January 15, 1928, at Panniyannur, a small village in Thalassery in the south Indian state of Kerala.

[5] A year later, he quit the job when the Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai was established to work as its founder secretary;[6] during his tenure, the academy was a meeting point for the Chennai based artists and this was known to have served as an inspiration for the formation of Cholamandal Artists' Village, of which he was also a founder member.

[7] Later, he moved to the New Delhi office of the academy in 1996 for a two year stint and it was during this time he came in touch with M. K. K. Nair, the visionary civil servant, with whom he was involved in the organization of the All India Writers’ Conference in Aluva.

[9] After his tenure with Kerala Lalithakala Akademi ended in 1977, he continued his involvement with the fine arts, literature and cultural activities; the founding of Nadaka Kalari, a theatre group based in Vaikom, in 1967, along with M. Govindan, C. N. Sreekantan Nair, K. S. Narayana Pillai, K. Ayyappa Paniker and G. Sankara Pillai, was one among them.

[2] On the occasion of his first death anniversary, an event was organized in Kochi, Remembering Devan, which featured several lectures and an exhibition of Devan's paintings as well as the works of some of his contemporaries including Tyeb Mehta, F. N. Souza, K. K. Hebbar, Laxma Goud, Bhupen Khakhar and Akbar Padamsee.