Bengal School

THE BENGAL SCHOOL AND
THE RISE OF MODERN

INDIAN ART
MODERN ART: DISCOURSE, STYLE AND
PROTAGONISTS
• MODERNITY TANTAMOUNT TO A GROWING SELF-AWARENESS AMONG THE MIDDLE CLASS,
HERE THE FOCUS ON THE BENGALI MIDDLE CLASS THAT HAD BEEN EXPOSED TO WESTERN
EDUCATION.
• FINDING EXPRESSION IN A CONSISTENT DISCOURSE FOR REFINING TASTE, DEVELOPING AN
INDIAN IDIOM AND SEARCHING FOR ITS PAST
• CELEBRATION OF ANTIQUITY IN PART A FALLOUT OF THE ORIENTALIST LEGACY
• DISCOURSE ARTICULATED THROUGH ART JOURNALS THAT PROLIFERATED IN BENGAL NOT TO
SPEAK OF LITERARY JOURNALS THAT REFERRED TO ART CRITICISM
• DISCOURSE GENERATING NEW CATEGORIES OF BEAUTY AND EMOTION AND PHILOSOPHY
REACTION AGAINST RAVI VARMA AND THE
SEARCH FOR ALTERNATIVES
• RISE OF NATIONALISM THAT BECAME THE MOST IMPORTANT PATRON OF AND A
STIMULANT TO THE ARTS.
• THE BENGAL SCHOOL OF ART PROBING FOR A NEW IDIOM AND STYLE ASSOCIATED
PRIMARILY WITH THE SWADESHI MOVEMENT, THE COMING OF ABANINDRANATH TAGORE
HAILED AS THE MOST ORIGINAL INDIAN PAINTER OF HIS TIME.
• THIS SCHOOL REPRESENTED A REACTION AGAINST BOTH RAVI VARMA STYLES AND THE
EXISTING CURRICULUM AND PREOCCUPATIONS OF THE ART SCHOOLS.
• IN THIS ABANINDRANATH AIDED AND SUPPORTED BY E.B.HAVELL AND ANANDA
COOMARASWAMY
THE BENGAL SCHOOL
• THE CHANGING TREND WAS THANKS TO THE STEWARDSHIP OF THE CALCUTTA ARTS
SCHOOL BY E.B.HAVELL WHO STARTED AS AN ARTS EDUCATIONIST AND TURNED INTO A
MAJOR THEORETICIAN.
• HIS CRITICAL VIEWS OF THE WAY ARTS EDUCATION WAS BEING RUN AND THE SLAVISH
IMITATION OF WESTERN ART PAVED THE WAY FOR A NEW MOMENT
• DISCOVERED ABANINDRANATH TAGORE (1871-1951) AND WITH HIS HELP INDIANISED ARTS
EDUCATION. BOTH BELIEVED IN CREATING A NEW TYPE OF ARTS EDUCATION THAT WAS
INDIAN IN SUBJECT MATTER AND STYLE
• THUS A NEW CURRICULUM WAS DESIGNED.
CONTINUED…
• A CURRICULUM THAT DID NOT DISPARAGE DECORATIVE ARTS TRADITION AND

PROMOTED TECHNIQUES AND THEMES IN INDIAN TRADITIONS
• MUGHAL AND PAHARI PAINTINGS DISPLAYED AND USED AS INSPIRATION
• AN ART JOURNAL THE INDIAN SOCIETY OF ORIENTAL ART PROMOTED
• ABANINDRANATH A THEORIST AND A TEACHER FOR MANY PUPILS
ABANINDRANATH TAGORE 1871-1951
• AT THE HEAD OF THE ARTS MOVEMENT, SPONSORED BY E.B.HAVELL, ABANINDRANATH BECAME

A SYMBOL OF SWADESHI PAINTING AND THE LEADER OF AN INDIAN ARTISTIC RENAISSANCE
• HIS ART EMBODIED A MELANGE OF JAPANESE, MUGHAL AND AJANTA STYLES
• HE ALSO REDEFINED THE STATUS OF AN ARTIST NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH ARTS SCHOOL
PRODUCTS
• GROWING UP IN A PRIVILEGED ESTATE AT JORASANKO, EXPOSED TO MULTIPLE INFLUENCES
INCLUDING WESTERN TRAINING, SHOWED AN APTITUDE FOR ART FROM CHILDHOOD
• ENCOURAGED BY RABINDRANATH TO PROVIDE ILLUSTRATIONS FOR HIS MUSICAL PLAY
CHITRANGADA
ENCOUNTER WITH HAVELL
• ENCOURAGEMENT AND DISPLAY OF PAINTINGS IN EXHIBITIONS

• THE EMPHASIS ON BHAVNA, ON EMOTION TO MAKE THINGS MORE ANIMATED –
THE FAMOUS SCENE OF SHAH JEHAN SEEN TO EMOBODY THIS: PAINTED IN OIL
ON WOOD AND CONDENSED TO A SCALE COMPARABLE TO MINIATURES, HAS
EXQUISITE DETAIL AND WORKMANSHIP
• THEME OF DEATH AND SEPARATION, EMOTIONAL INTENSITY CONVEYED: A
PERSONAL DIMENSION TO THE RELATIONSHIP OF FATHER AND DAUGHTER
TRADEMARKS
• THE NEW WASH TECHNIQUE THANKS TO THE ENCOUNTER WITH OKAKURA (HIS
IDEALISTIC EMOTIVE OVERTONES.
• ATMOSPHERIC BLEND OF COLORS, HAZY
• JAPANESE PAINTERS TOOK TO PAINTING HINDU DEITIES
KRISHNA LILA SERIES
PORTRAIT
SOME EXAMPLES
PASSING OF SHAH JEHAN
EXTRACT TO HELP WITH ANALYSIS
• THE PAINTING OF SHAH JEHAN HELPED ESTABLISH THE INTENSITY OF FEELING;

HIS USE OF COLOURS AND IMAGES INTENDED TO CONVEY THIS
• FOR HIM LINES WERE LIMITING BUT COLOURS WERE BOUNDLESS AND COULD
CONVEY HIDDEN DEPTHS
• NOTE THE MELLOWED SUBDUED TONES AND THE MURKY SKY, THIS PAINTING
WAS SEEN AS A MASTER PIECE OF INDIAN ART IN THE DELHI DURBAR OF 1903
THE WASH TECHNIQUE ILLUSTRATED
THE BHARAT MATA EXPLAINED
Overtly national and political.

An ascetic figure and mood.
Identifiably Indian
A MAN OF MANY TALENTS
• ILLUSTRATED TALES
• FORAYS INTO NATURAL STUDIES AND LANDSCAPES
• EXPERIMENTED WITH THEATRE SETS
• ESTABLISHED HIS STATUS AS THE SUPREME ARTIST; WHILE APPRECIATING TRAINING ALSO
HELD TO THE BELIEF THAT ART HAD TO BE SPONTANEOUSLY IMBIBED THROUGH A
DISPOSITION
• AMONG HIS STUDENTS MENTION MUST BE MADE OF NANDALAL BOSE AND SURENDRANATH
GANGULI AND SUBSEQUENTLY MANY MORE LIKE ASIT KUMAR HALDAR, SURENDRANTAH
KAR AND VENKATAPPA
NANDALAL (PEN AND INK) THE ARTISTS
STUDIO JORASANKO AND OTHERS
ART AND NATIONALISM, TILLER OF THE SOIL
• ONE OF THE PANELS MADE BY NANDALAL BOSE IN 1938 FOR THE HARIPURA CONGRESS. IN
THIS PANEL, A FARMER IS SHOWN PLOUGHING A FIELD— THE DAILY ACTIVITY OF A COMMON
MAN AND IN A VILLAGE. TO CAPTURE THE ESSENCE OF VILLAGE LIFE IN HIS HARIPURA
PANELS, BOSE MADE PEN-AND-INK BRUSH STUDIES OF LOCAL VILLAGERS. HE USED THICK
TEMPERA IN A BOLD CURSORY STYLE AND BROAD BRUSHWORK. THIS TECHNIQUE AND
STYLE WAS REMINISCENT OF THE FOLK ART PRACTICE OF PATUAS OR SCROLL PAINTERS.
FOLK STYLE IS PURPOSELY USED TO REPRESENT THE RURAL LIFE. IT ALSO CONVEYS
POLITICAL STATEMENT OF GANDHI’S IDEA OF VILLAGE. THE BACKGROUND OF THE POSTER
HAS AN ARCH. THE STRONG SENSES OF FORMAL DESIGN, BOLD COLOUR SCHEME, AND THEIR
BLEND OF NATURE AND CONVENTION IN THIS PANEL REFLECT BOSE’S INSPIRATION FROM
AJANTA WALL PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURES. MORE THAN 400 POSTERS WERE PREPARED AT
KALA BHAVANA UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF BOSE, WHO WAS INFLUENCED BY THE IDEA OF
GANDHI. THESE POSTERS PLACE COMMON PEOPLE IN THE CENTRE OF NATION BUILDING.
BOSE UTILISED ART TO BUILD THE NATION’S MORAL CHARACTER
•

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THE BENGAL SCHOOL AND

THE RISE OF MODERN

• A CURRICULUM THAT DID NOT DISPARAGE DECORATIVE ARTS TRADITION AND

• AT THE HEAD OF THE ARTS MOVEMENT, SPONSORED BY E.B.HAVELL, ABANINDRANATH BECAME

• ENCOURAGEMENT AND DISPLAY OF PAINTINGS IN EXHIBITIONS

• THE PAINTING OF SHAH JEHAN HELPED ESTABLISH THE INTENSITY OF FEELING;

Overtly national and political.

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