Evolution of Bengal school of art

Evolution of Bengal school of art

Question:-The Bengal school of art arose from the need to try something innovative and different in Indian art. Explain the evolution mentioning the salient features of this school of art.

Abandranath tagore, a well known personality led the Bengal School of art which was associated with Indian nationalism and was supported and promoted by British art administrators. This art originated in Bengal and flourished throughout the country during the early 20th century.

Evolution:

- The Bengal school arose with an intention of experimenting something different or innovative in Indian art.

- Abanindranath Tagore started including Indian themes and traditions in his paintings, thus initiating a new movement in Indian art.

- Artists such as Raja Ravi Verma created art which was imitative and as such lacked Indian values making it unsuitable for depicting India's culture.

- The new style revived and added modern touches to the the older Mughal, Rajasthani and Ajanta styles; thus making it more of a revivalist movement.

Salient features:

- The paintings were so evocative and that they they bore the potential to draw the viewers right into it immersing them in the story they told.

- Every painting was unique given the the style factor and displayed immense creativity of the painter.

- The very iconic painting 'Bharat Mata' turned out to be a complete deviation from earlier representations of India by other artists. Being gentle yet vulnerable and a subjugated figure, this became a symbol of national movement.

- The Japanese influence of wash technique is apparent from the soft misty quality seen in the paintings which became a trademark.

Bengal school of art proved to be a real era of swadesi in Indian art, marking the end of dominance of the British in Indian art.