Bengal school of art

The Bengal school arose as an avant garde and nationalist movement reacting against the
academic art styles previously promoted in India, both by Indian artists such as Ravi Varma and
in British art schools. Following the influence of Indian spiritual ideas in the West, the British art
teacher Ernest Binfield Havell attempted to reform the teaching methods at the Calcutta School
of Art by encouraging students to imitate Mughal miniatures[1][2]. This caused controversy,
leading to a strike by students and complaints from the local press, including from nationalists
who considered it to be a retrogressive move. Havell was supported by the artist Abanindranath
Tagore, a nephew of the poet Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore painted a number of works
influenced by Mughal art, a style that he and Havell believed to be expressive of India's distinct
spiritual qualities, as opposed to the "materialism" of the West. Tagore's best-known painting,
Bharat Mata (Mother India), depicted a young woman, portrayed with four arms in the manner
of Hindu deities, holding objects symbolic of India's national aspirations.

Tagore later attempted to develop links with Japanese artists as

part of an aspiration to construct a pan-Asianist model of art.The Bengal school's influence in
India declined with the spread of modernist ideas in the 1920s.

Patna School of Painting

Patna School of Painting or Patna Qalaam or company painting is a style of Indian Painting,
which existed in Bihar, India in the 18th and 19th centuries. [1] Patna Qalaam was world’s first
independent school of painting which dealt exclusively with the commoner and his lifestyle also

helped Patna Kalam paintings gain in popularity.[2]

The Patna School of Painting

By admin | Published: 12/15/2009

Patna is the capital of the state of Bihar, located in the North-West region of India. There was a
phase in India when art flourished under the patronage of Mughal rulers. The story goes that
Aurangzeb (died in 1707) persecuted Hindus and as a result some of the painters fled and found
refuge in Patna. These hindu painters were experts of Mughal miniature style paintings.

The move to Patna brought about certain transformations. The painters earlier used to paint court
scenes commissioned by the ruler but in Patna the scene changed. People with money – landlords
and British families living in Patna became their patrons. The subjects of the painting
accordingly changed to scenes that portrayed normal day-to-day location and activities. The style
too evolved during this period to one where some western techniques of paintings were
incorporated. This movement lasted for over 200 years. The refreshing change in subjects and
the technical approach gave the style distinctiveness and it got a special name – Patna Kalam or
the Patna School of Painting.

Its quite incredible how influential foreigners have been in shaping Indian art and how the socio-
economic structure challenges artists to innovat

Pahari paintin

Pahari painting (literal meaning a painting from the mountainous regions, pahar means a
mountain in Hindi) is an umbrella term used for a form of Indian painting, originating from Hill
kingdoms of North India, during 17th-19th century. Notably Basohli, Mankot, Nurpur, Chamba,
Kangra, Guler, Mandi, and Garhwal, and was done mostly in miniature forms [1][2].

The Pahari school developed and flourished during 17th-19th centuries stretching from Jammu to
Almora and Garhwal, in the sub-Himalayan India, through Himachal Pradesh, and each creating
stark variations within the genre, ranging from bold intense Basohli Painting, originating from
Basohli in Jammu and Kashmir, to the delicate and lyrical Kangra paintings, which became
synonymous to the style before other schools of paintings developed, which reached its pinnacle
with paintings of Radha and Krishna, inspired by Jayadev's Gita Govinda[3].

It gave birth to a new idiom in Indian painting, and grew out of the Mughal painting, though this
was patronized mostly by the Rajput kings who ruled many parts of the region [4].

Mewar painting : This is one of the most important schools of Indian miniature painting of the 1600s
and 1700s, in the Rajasthani style developed in Mewar. With this style, artists used a single hair from the
throat or tail of a squirrel to execute the finely detailed work of these exquisite paintings.

Painting in Mewar developed from the 13th century. For example, Rawal Tej Singh (1251-1267)
had shown the paintings of Radha Krishna. The Rajputs and Mughals inherited paintings of
Sahibdin (Shahibdeen) (1628-1652). The large number of Mewar paintings, more than in any
other Rajasthani school, featured emotional appeal through simple bright colours. The earliest
dated examples of these are a series painted in 1605 at CHAVAND during the reign of Maharana
Amar Singh I (1597-1620), Chavand having been the final capital of Amar Singh''s father,
Maharana Pratap Singh I. This vigorous and expressive style continued, with variations, through
the reigns of Maharana Jagat Singh I (1628-1652), and Maharana JAI SINGH (1680-1698).
After this, Mughal influence became more evident. The Mewar School continued through the
1700s and into the 1800s, the output being quite prolific. Although religious themes continued to
be popular, more and more paintings concentrated on portraiture and the life of the ruler. Bundi
painting, an important school of the Rajasthani style of miniatures, developed from the 17th
century to the end of the 19th century. Maharana Jagat Singh II (1734-1751) encouraged artists
to gain recognition by adding their monogram to their works. Under Maharana Bhim Singh
(1778-1828), the foremost Court Artist was Chokha. During the reign of Maharana Jawan Singh
(1828-1838), Mewar painting continued to flourish, with Western-style portraiture of notable
figures supplementing the traditional style of hunts and courtly occasions. The paintings of
Kundanlal Mishri (1866-1926) were famous in Udaipur and Mewar, while in Nathdwara,
Pichhavai paintings were the most famous. Today, Udaipur has an extraordinary number of
accomplished artists in pokey ateliers scattered throughout the city, meeting the tourist demand
for exquisite originals and reproductions of Mewar''s famous miniatures. The annual
MAHARANA MEWAR FOUNDATION AWARDS recognise outstanding artists with the
Maharana Sajjan Singh Award, which honours, in part, the work of permanent value to society

through the medium of painting.

The Kishangarh school of miniature painting is known the world over for its sensuous portraits, soft
colors and fascinating landscapes. It developed in the mid-eighteenth century under the patronage of
Raja Sawant Singh of Kishangarh (1748-1757). Typical characteristics of Kishangarh Paintings are
portraits of women with sharp profiles, long necks, slanted eyes and aquiline noses. The colours used
are almost jewel-like and green is one of the predominant shades used.

Unlike other Folk Paintings for example Madhubani Paintings and Warli Paintings, Kishangarh
Paintings usually depict two themes – religious (especially of Radha-Krishna) and social
(predominantly hunting and court scenes). The Kishangarh school excels in its Bani Thani
paintings that depict a beautifully-dressed (bani thani in Hindi) Radha. These paintings belonged
to the rulers of Kishangarh and were first seen by the outside world in the 1940s. Some of these
exquisite masterpieces are now on view at the National Museum, New Delhi.

After Sawant Singh’s death, the Kishangarh school lost much of its originality, and declined
from ninteenth century onwards. Today, most painters of the Kishangarh school merely
reproduce older works instead of doing original work.

Commercial considerations have also changed the way Kishangarh Paintings are executed today.
Traditionally, only Natural Dyes were employed, but today, these have been replaced by poster
colours. Originally, the brushes used were made by the artist himself from the hair from squirrel
tails. Now all that has been forgotten and commercially available paintbrushes are being used.

Kashmir School of Painting

The Kashmir school of painting is an obscure topic in the otherwise scholarly field of
Indian art history, although much has been written about the ancient Kashmiri
architecture and sculpture in recent times. It is true that Kashmir yields no archaeological
remains of paintings nor do we know anything regarding the painting to reorganise the
chronological history of painting in Kashmir. This paucity of archaeological material, of
course, poses a severe lacuna in reorganisation and interpretation of the history of painting
of Kashmiri people in early days but nevertheless it means that painting was an unknown
or omitted discipline of fine arts to the Kashmiri society. An advanced culture like Kashmir
that had well organised style of architecture, sculpture and other arts would never ignore
the art of painting as it has been a most expressive and lively medium of human feelings
and creative impulse. However, paintings being fragile in nature have completely
disappeared from Kashmir on account of its unsuitable climatic conditions and ravages of
wars. But the paintings created by the medieval artists of Kashmir have fortunately
survived in the Trans-Himalayan region where climate preserved them. The earliest
surviving examples of Kashmiri painting come from Gilgit which date from about 8th
century A. D. Paintings discovered from Gilgit represent a highly developed style which did
not appear overnight. Kashmiri craftsmen, long-famed in the North Western Indian
peninsula, used to be invited to Central Asia and Tibet to decorate Buddhist monasteries.
All the earliest monasteries of Tibet and Western Tibetan provinces used their services and
their artifacts were in ever greater demand.