THE BENGAL SCHOOL OF PAINTING

(From the beginning to mid of the 20th Century)

(A) THE BENGAL SCHOOL OF PAINTING

The Bengal School of Art emerged in 1950s, specifically in Kolkata and Santiniketan, as a
movement involving exploring new artistic methods, or exprimenting with new techniques in
order to produce better art established itself along the lines of the Indian freedom struggle.
The rise of the nationalist sentiment with the Swadeshi movement (self-sufficiency in
production), non-cooperation with foreigners, self-governance, unity of all Indians against
foreigners, among many others influenced the art and artists as well.

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE BENGAL SCHOOL OF PAINTING

Towards the close of the nineteenth century, Indian painting, as an extension of the Indian
miniature painting, fell on decline, and degraded into weak and unfelt imitation largely due to
historical reasons, both political and sociological.

There was only some minor artistic expression in the intervening period by way of the
'Bazaar' and 'Company' styles of painting, apart from the more substantial folk forms which
were alive in many parts of the country.

They followed the newly developed western concept of naturalism, the foremost supporter of
which was Raja Ravi Varma. An attempt to impart these cultural morals was made by
Abanindranath Tagore (nephew of Rabindranath Tagore) under whose inspired leadership
came into being a new school of painting which was distinctly nostalgic and romantic to start
with, and held its way for over three decades.

RENAISSANCE
# Also called the Revivalist School and rightly so, Bengal School of Painting brought a
Renaissance in Indian art. The idea behind this school was a vision of an independent India
that would get its strength from the rich cultural and historical that it holds.

1.With the coming of the British Empire in India there was a decline in Mughal and Rajput
School of Painting towards the 19th Century. Even after long efforts, Britishers could not
develop the western art of painting in India. By the end of the 19th and the beginning of the
20th century this art came to an end with Raja Ravi Verma. But the credit of bringing a new
style of Painting in India goes to both Raja Ravi Verma and E.B. Havell.

2.E.B. Havell, an English art historian, encouraged traditional Indian art and worked as the
Principal of Madras School of Art from 1884 to 1896.
Thereafter he was transferred to Calcutta where he was introduced to Abanindranath
Tagore, the then leading artist of India. Within ten years a new school of painting was
established with the efforts of both. Many works of India's distinctive spiritual style were done
here as opposed to the western materialism. It was based fully on Indian traditions which
became famous as the Bengal School of Art.
3.In 1907 Shri E.B. Havell, Abanindranath Tagore and his brother Gaganendra Nath Tagore
founded the "Indian Society of Oriental Arts" whose aim was to encourage traditional Indian
art of painting with the help of progressive artists. There were thirty Britishers and five
Indians in this organisation and the director was Lord Kitchner. In 1908 an exhibition of
paintings was organised in which the paintings of Shri Abanidranath Tagore, Nand Lal Bose,
K. Venkatappa, Ganganendra Nath Tagore and Shailendra Nath De, were exhibited. Percy
Brown, John Woodroff, N.C. Mehta and O.C. Ganguli, encouraged these artists with their
appreciation.

4.In the same time Lady Herringham came to India. She got the paintings of Ajanta copied
by Nand Lal Bose, Asit Kumar Haldar and K. Venkatappa.
She also got the same published in the "India Society London". The paintings of Bagh caves
were also copied. Ishwari Prasad of Patna School painted religious themes at Calcutta.
Ananda Coomaraswamy arranged several exhibitions of Indian Paintings in foreign countries
which resulted in obtaining respect and fame for the Indian Painting in other countries too.
This renaissance of Indian Art spread in every corner of the country after starting from
Bengal. Special art centres were started at Bombay, Madras, Delhi and many other places .

SUBJECT MATTER OF BENGAL SCHOOL

1. Historical Paintings: So many historical events were painted in this style. "Tishya
Rakshita' and 'Budha and Sujata' painted by Abanidranath Tagore are very famous ones.
"Akbar' and 'Kunal' painted by Asit Kumar Halder are also famous paintings.

2. Religious Paintings: 'Mahakali', 'Shiv Parvati, 'Krishna and Gopis' and, many other
events were painted under this theme.

3. Literary Themes : Themes of Indian literature were liberally painted in this school. Megh
Doot of Ram Gopal Viswargiya is very famous under this theme.

4.Social Life: There is an abundance of the social and daily life paintings in this school.
'Hard-ware merchant' 'Beggar', 'The Last Journey' etc., are worth mentioning.

5. Birds and Animals: Birds and Animals have also been painted.
But the animals painted are really beautiful and expressive. In the
'Last Journey' the end of a camel has been depicted. It is a wonderful emotional sight. The
expressions on the face of the camel are very touching.

6. Landscape Painting: Landscape paintings have been beautifully done in this school.

CHARACTERISTICS OF BENGAL SCHOOL

1. Effect of Ajanta: The soul of Ajanta is clearly visible in the Bengal Painting. Bengal
painters have tried to introduce the linear delicacy, rhythm and grace of Ajanta in their
paintings to the best of their ability.

Full of Indian Traditions : This school is full of Indian traditional style of painting, which was
actually the main aim of Bengal School painters.
2. Simple and Clear Paintings : Paintings are simplified and normal.

It takes no time to understand the paintings.

3. Soft and Rhythmic Figures: The figures are delicate and graceful.
There is no hardness in them any where. The rhythm of the figures gives an extraordinary
pleasure to the eyes.

4. Attractive Colour Scheme: The colour scheme of the paintings is very attractive. Bright
and gaudy colours have not at all been used any where. Wash technique has been used in
order to bring harmony in the painting.

5. Impact of Mughal and Rajasthani School : The impact of Mughal and Rajasthani school
is also there in the paintings at some places.

6. Light and Shade : Light and Shade has been very delicately shown, which has added
softness to the paintings and hardness is no where seen in them.

CONTRIBUTION OF INDIAN ARTISTS IN NATIONAL FREEDOM STRUGGLE

Art and artistic creations have always been a reflection of the social, economic and
intellectual environment of a society. The period of the Indian freedom struggle was full of
patriotism when everybody struggled together under the leadership.

It is a well known fact that the Indian freedom movement had . tremendous impact on the
public life. The end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century brought in
an extreme phase which influenced the existing artists also. They too chose the freedom
struggle as a subject for their paintings as a kind of service to the "Swadeshi" the national
movement. Furthermore, some of the national leaders, such as Mahatma Gandhi and
Jawaharlal Nehru, also took help from traditional Indian art to arouse the feeling of
patriotism. These national leaders understood the growing popularity and sincerity of these
artists to a great extent and encouraged them.

They sought to develop an indigenous yet modern style in art as a response to the call for
'swadeshi' to express Indian themes in a pictorial language. In this effort, Abanindranath
Tagore was the first major exponent of Indian nationalist values in art. He was the founder of
the Bengal school as well as the "Indian Society of Oriental Art"

Bharat Mata (Mother India) by Abanindranath Tagore :

The painting is a testimony of both his nationalist outlook as well as the greater ideas of the
ideal 'Bharat' that Indians were dreaming of. Abanindranath's Bharat Mata was somewhat an
originator of the 'roti-kapda-makan' (food, clothing, shelter) theme of later India. It was his
answer to the rising swadeshi sentiment and the public uproar against the partition of
Bengal. He portrayed a young woman, with four arms in the manner of Hindu deities, holding
objects symbolic of India's national aspirations in view of the traditional idea of the nation as
a mother goddess. Done in a miniature format, it was revivalist in conception.
It showed a Bengali peasant woman draped in saffron from head to toe, holding in her four
hands a piece of white cloth, a book, a sheaf of grain and a rosary. These were symbolic of
the need to meet the basic economic needs of her people, which then were, and still are,
food, clothing, shelter and education for her countrymen.

Amrita Shergill's version of Bharat Mata: Amrita Shergill also painted Mother India but it
was a realist image, critical and very down to earth.
She painted Bharat Mata as a poor peasant woman with her poor children, a boy in her lap,
and her daughter by her side. The essence of the theme is the poverty of rural India and the
mood is sad caused by the poverty of her situation. It seeks to paint the average peasant
Indian mother as the example of Indianness and the heart of the Indian cultural identity.

Purna Ghosh, another artist painted Bharat Mata based on a song by Dwijendralal Roy who
referred to his motherland as "Bharat janani" who rises from blue seas and has Himalayas
as her crowning glory. Ghosh depicts a lady rising from blue waters, wearing a blue saree
holding a sheaf of ripened paddy, crown on her head symbolising the Himalayas
representing India as a flourishing land of agriculture.

Nand Lal Bose, another prolific artist of Bengal school contributed

greatly to the Indian National Movement and Indian National Congress as he painted the
portraits of National leaders & Swaraj movement. He also decorated the congress pandals at
Lucknow, Faizpur, Haripura and many more. To mark the 1930 occasion of Mahatma
Gandhi's arrest for protesting the British tax on salt, Bose created a black on white linocut
print of Gandhi walking with a staff. It became the iconic image for the non-violence
movement.

Gaganendranath Tagore made a caricature on Jallianwala massacre

"Declaration of peace in Punjab" highlighting the brutal act and hatred of Indians towards the
British. He actively observed politics and soon moved from the revivalist methods of Bengal
school to the caricatures that were published in many newspapers

Asit Kumar Haldar, known best for the project of documenting cave art of Ajanta, Ellora and
Bagh, worked with the objective of bringing ancient Indian art to the wider public. His, and
Nand Lal Bose's work of creating replicas found patrons from Europe like Lady Herringham
who published their work in Europe thus gaining recognition and admiration for ancient
Indian art in the world. Awakening of Mother India and thirty two paintings of the Buddha,
document the Indian idealism in his art .

Name:THE EVOLUTION OF INDIAN NATIONAL FLAG

Artist:UNKNOWN
Medium:COLOURED CLOTH
Period:1906-1921-1947 A.D.
Courtesy:MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING GOVT. OF INDIA.
"It will be necessary for us Indians Muslims, Christians, Jews, Parsis, and all others to whom
India is their home-to recognize a common flag to live and to die for."
-Mahatma Gandhi
SUBJECT MATTER : The aim for making the Indian National Flag was to have a separate
identity of India as National Freedom Movement was going on and efforts for making India
free were in progress. Different flags were made time to time but the final Indian National
Flag was hoisted on August 15, 1947. It was discovered or recognised during our national
struggle for freedom. In a way it reflects the political developments in the nation. The
evolution of the Indian National Flag went through many transitions to arrive at what it is
today. Some of the historical milestones involve the

MAIN STAGES DESCRIPTION: FIRST (1906) : The first Indian National Flag was hoisted
on August 7, 1906 in the Parsee Bagan Square (Green Park) in Calcutta now Kolkata.
The flag was composed to three
horizontal strips of green, yellow and red that sought to unite the multitude of castes and
races within the country. In the top strip, 8 white lotuses representing the eight provinces
have been shown. In the yellow central strip, 'Vande Mataram' in Hindi is written in dark blue
colour and in the bottom strip, a half moon in white is shown at the left side and a white sun
of the right side.

MIDDLE (1921) : The next important stage after a few minor ones in between can be
considered to be of 1921. During the session of All India Congress Committee which met at
Bezwada in 1921 (now Vijayawada), an Andhra youth Pingali Venkaiah prepared a flag and
took it to Gandhiji. It was made up of two colours-red and green, representing the two major
communities i.e., Hindus and Muslims. Gandhiji suggested the addition of a white strip to
represent the remaining communities of India and the spinning wheel to symbolise self
sufficiency and progress of the Nation.

FINAL (1947) : On July 22, 1947, A new flag of free India as a nation was hoisted which
was adopted by the Constituent Assembly. The thought behind its modifications was to make
it acceptable to all parties and communities. It was also resolved that the flag should not
have any communal traces. The tricolour flag's significance remains the same.
Dharma Chakra of emperor Ashoka with 24 spokes was adopted instead of the Charkha.
Thus, the tricolour flag of the Congress Party eventually became the tricolour flag of
Independent India. It is now a symbol of national pride which represents hopes and
aspirations of Indian people.

Symbolic significance of its form and colours : Let's take them one by one :

Saffron is for courage and sacrifice. It is the common and religiously significant color of the
religions of Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain. Saffron colour indicates rejection of the ego of
the people belonging to different religion and unites them to become one.

White is for truth, honesty, purity and peace of the nation. It also represents cleanliness and
knowledge. It lightens the path of truth in order to guide the nation.

Green is for faith and chivalry. It also represents the fertility, life, happiness and prosperity of
the nation. It indicates the green fields all over India.

Navy blue colour, of the Ashok Chakra in the centre of the white strip represents the color of
the sky and the oceans.
Dharma Chakra is the wheel of cosmic law, it stands for constant change and dynamism.
24 spokes* in the centre represent the 24 precious hours of the day

Khadi or hand-spun cloth is the only material allowed to be used for the flag and its
size ratio
is 3:2 in length and breadth

Paintings: Name : Shiva and Sati

Artist : NAND Lal Bose
Period:1908
Medium:water color (tempra)
Courtesy: National gallery of modern art ,New Delhi
SUBJECT MATTER: The subject matter of the painting depicts Lord Shiva is shown seated
and carrying goddess Sati in his arms and the scene is related to one of the main episodes
of Shiva and Sati. Here Sati is dead. The subject matter of this painting totally matches the
title.
This painting is a narrative mythology by Modern Indian artist, Sh. Nand Lal Bose.
DESCRIPTION: This monochromatic painting seems to be inspired from Ajanta paintings. A
halo is shown around the head of Shiva for representing him as God. Expressions are very
good. The shades of light in white colour have been depicted on foreheads of both figures
and also on body of Shiva. The painting has been made in brownish monochromatic effects.
The effects of clouds in the foreground are very impressive. The background is quite
attractive.
Sati has sacrificed her life for the sake of her husband Shiva's self respect.
Sati's father Daksha who was against their marriage spoke abusive words for Shiva in a
great party (yajna). So, Sati ended her life through her intrinsic powers by burning her body
through fire. So, in this painting, Shiva is carrying Sati in his arms. He is in a sitting pose. It is
one of the best paintings of Sh. Nand Lal Bose.
After being associated with the works of 'Indian Society of Oriental Art', this painting at one
of the society's first art exhibitions brought him a Prize of Rs. 500 in 1908

NAME: RADHIKA
ARTIST: M.A.R. CHUGHTAI (1891 - 1975 )
SCHOOL:MODERN
MEDIUM: WATER COLOUR TEMPERA (WASH)
COURTESY : NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART, NEW DELHI
Period: 1940 C•E
SUBJECT MATTER : This painting is based on a typical Indian young girl in standing pose
going out of her room. She is feeling shy. This painting belongs to Hindu religion.
DESCRIPTION : It is a vertical painting of M.A.R. Chughtai (A Pakistani Artist) having the
size 52.7 x 73 cm.
This is a painting of typical Indian young girl in standing pose going out of her room. Her
head is down. Her left foot is forward and the right foot is shown with three fingers with a
dominating little finger of the foot. Her left hand and right hand are holding the lotus flowers,
left hand is bent normally near her neck while right hand is folded in a typical pose, and an
ant is walking on a lotus flower near her right hand. The ant is with wings, may be an insect.
In the background a lamp stand with a burning flame and smoke is going upwards. Near the
lamp some insects are shown dead on the ground.
DRESS: The lady is wearing a blue coloured lehnga, a red blouse and a yellow orange sari
with both of them. Ornaments are shown with well decorative lines.
The whole painting is giving a very good impression due to rhythmic, expressive and fine
lines.
Her hair are also painted with grey, black and brown colour. Background is shown with
centrally yellow colour and blending with outside orange and brown .This painting is of wash
technique which was only done by the Bengal School artists at that time while this is a
technique of Japan and China.
Human values: love and commitment

NAME: MEGHDOOT
Artist : RAM GOPAL VIJAIVARGIYA
School :BENGAL SCHOOL
Medium:WATER COLOUR (Wash) TEMPERA ON PAPER
Periods: 1940-45 (Meghdoot Chitravali 1945)
size :10.5" × 14"
COURTESY : LALIT KALA AKADEMI, NEW DELHI
SUBJECT MATTER : This painting is based on a lyrical poem 'Meghdoot' written by Kalidas.
Meghaduta is a story of a Yaksha, who lives in the beautiful mythical city of Alaka in the
Himalayas. He was exiled by his master King Kubera for one year for neglecting his duties.
The poem is set about eight months after the exile, when the Yaksha yearning for his
beloved, convinces a passing cloud to become his messenger (dûta) and carry his message
to his beloved wife awaiting his return.
DESCRIPTION: Ram Gopal Vijaivargiya, a prolific writer and poet in addition to being an
outstanding artist, has painted Meghdoot (cloud-messenger), one of his favourite themes.
Here the handsome Yaksha is sitting on rocks in a forest and writing his feelings. His
features are beautifully modeled with youthful softness. He is writing on a leaf with right hand
and holding a flower in his left hand. His expressions are somber with tears in his eyes as he
longs for his beloved and his home while writing the message. He is wearing a yellow Dhoti
and a long stole hangs on his left shoulder. He is also wearing a necklace. His hair are long
curled upward at the ends.
In the background there is a thatched hut and thick forest trees in green and yellow colours.
The hut, trees and rocky terrain are painted in light and dark brown colour. Two wave like
clouds are swirling into the composition from back and front towards the Yaksha. They are
painted with sky blue in the starlit dark sky. A few small birds are also flying amongst the
clouds.
The colors are soft and light giving this painting a subtle glow. Lines are sharp with tonal
variations in brown colour: The story was as important as the technique of the painting. Even
in modernism he sticks to his preference for people as subjects of literary works.

Human value : love ,commitment and faithfulness