Introduction to the Bengal school of Painting

Q.1. Describe the origin and development of the Bengal school of Paintings.

Ans.1. Introduction: The Bengal painting was inspired from Ajanta and Bagh, Persian and
Mughal, Rajasthani and Pahari miniatures and shilpshastra. Chinese cloth painting and Japanese woodcut
were fused with themes mostly from Indian mythology and religion The preferred medium of this school
was water colour, ink and tempera. Under the influence of Principal E.B. havell and Abanindranath, Indian
Artists looked back at the traditional painting of Indian with respect and got themselves seprated from the
blind copying of the lifeless western realism. Thus was born the Bengal school which is more a style than a
regional development, is the first school representing important art movement in Modern India.
Origin: In the early part of the 20th century the protected colonial rule and continued propaganda of so
called British critics and painters made the people believe that there was no merit to Indian traditional Art
and no heritage. The English educated Indian people, who had come to dominate society, came to believe
it, and tend to measure success by European standard. The feudal rulers of India and their courts were
completely swept by English culture and joined denigrating Indian culture. The perversity and Victorian
prudery reached such a state that in some of the princely states the picture of lord Shiva was painted
wearing European dress and Lord Krishna driving a car (phaeton) with friends. Along with the Europeans,
English educated Indians too, started thinking that there was nothing but eroticism in Indian art. Indian art
stood at the crossroad after the decline of Mughal Empire, and the beginning of the British colonial rule
after the mutiny of 1857. By the end of the century, the smaller feudal states where art survived for
sometime were annexed one by one by the British rulers. Indian painting almost a dead end. At this point of
our identity crisis, there came some highly gifted artists who tried in their own way to give a sense of
direction to the art movement of the country and created confidence in the traditional values and rich
heritage of Indian Art and made the Indians conscious of the fact. Their effort fostered self respect among
the Indians for creative output.
Development: It was at this juncture that some great painters like Raja Ravi Varma (Modern art),
Abanindranath Tagore, Gagnendranath Tagore, Rabindranath Tagore, Nandlal Bose, Jamini Roy and ably
supported by E.B. Havell, the then principal of Government Art School at Calcutta were making endeavor to
revive self respect for Indian creative art. He sold off the specimens of European paintings and plaster cast
of Western antiquities from the school’s art gallery in 1904 and replaced them by Indian paintings. He
encouraged Abanindranath to study Mughal and Rajput paintins and appointed him as Vice-principal of the
Art School. From two visiting Japanese artists, he learnt their water colour technique and synthesized it
with European water colour technique to create a novel technique which came to be known as ‘Wash’
technique. Then Tempera mixed with Wash (Wash with Tempera) became the hallmark of Bengal School
and marked the departure from the traditional tempera method.

Soon after under their joint effort and patronage from Rabindranath, Dr. A. K. Kumarswami,
Gagnendranath, Sister Nivedita and many other Art lovers gave birth to the ‘Society of Oriental Art’ in
1907. Their first major success was to send a group of artists like Nandlal Bose, Asit Kumar Haldar,
Samnendranath Gupta to copy the painting of Ajanta & Bagh caves. They worked with Lady Hrrringham of
Indian Society of London. The paintings which were published and were widely acclaimed in the European
journals and established the antiquity and greatness of ancient Indian Painting. This enthused the Indian
artists to tern for inspiration to true native tradition. They created a short of new renaissance under the
guidance and leadership of Abanindranath Tagore. This rebirth of Indian art spread to every part of the
country like Delhi, Punjab, Gujarat, Lucknow, Jaipur and Hyderabad from Bengal.

Conclusion: Influence of Ajanta and Bagh is clearly seen in Bengal painting. The Bengal painters have
succeeded in introducing liner delicacy, rhythm and grace of Ajanta into their paintings. The school laid
down the foundation stone for the growth of modern painting.

Q.2. Mention the main features of the Bengal school of painting.

Ans.2. The Main features of the Bengal school of Painting

1. Bengal school artists gave a sense of direction to the first art movement of the country. They sowed the
confidence in the traditional values and rich heritage of Indian art by giving the Indians a new cultural
consciousness.
2. The Bengal school adopted a new Japanese water color technique called ‘wash’ which synthesized with
European water color and Indian Tempera. Wash became the hallmark of Bengal school.
3. During this period all types of painting including religious, social and historical events, birds and animals
and landscape were painted.
4. The colours are soft without shadow and conventional perspective giving a mystic sense of space and
atmosphere and diluting the impact of colour. The Bengal painters introduced linear delicacy, rhythm and
grace of Ajanta.

5. The colour scheme of the painting is marvelously attractive with a mixture of tempera and newly
acquired Japanese technique of wash.

6. No clay modeling was encouraged, because it was associated with Western academic art education.

Study of the Paintings of the Bengal school

Q.1. Evaluate the artistic qualities of the following Bengal School’s Paintings in about
100- 150 word each.
(a) Journey’s End (b) Shiva and Sati
Based on the following topics.
(i) Title (ii) Name of the artist (iii) Medium (iv) technique
(v) Circa (vi) Collection (vii) Subject-matter and Composition.

Ans.1.(a) Title: Journey’s end Painter- Abanindranath Tagore Period- Modern

Medium- Water colour on Paper Technique- Wash with Tempera Circa: 1937 A.D.
Collection: National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi
Subject-matter and Composition: In this painting the artist has shown, a massive load on the camel’s back
shows the greed of the master in exploiting the slaves to their last breath. The weight he has been carrying
all his life for his master is still intact on his back so that it is not damaged. He has yet not given up hope of
standing once more to deliver the goods to his master which he is given to carry. He is on his knees with his
back legs upright and his head slightly raised as if he would make another attempt to get up. The pain and
suffering of a dump beast of burden moved the painter so much that the pain he felt can be clearly seen in
the half open eye of the beast. No one is there to watch the thin stream of blood oozing out of its mouth.
His life’s journey is about to come to an end with the end of the day. The painting is painted in the new
technique which he evolved with the fusion of tempera technique of miniature painting and wash (the
Japanese technique). Red Brown and yellow wash of colours give the background and the sky is filled with
the diffused light of sunset. The foreground only is painted in the darker tones of the same colour to
intensify the sense of pain. There is a tint of blue where the animal is about to collapse. The Painting is
suffused with a romantic sentiment yet it evokes pity and sympathy from the viewers. The painting
‘journey’s end’ was first published in the Bengali magazine ‘Prabasi’ and drew acclaim from the viewers as a
great piece of art.

Ans.1.(b) Title: Shiva and Sati Painter- Nandlal Bose Period- Modern
Medium- Water colour on Paper Technique- Wash with Tempera Circa: 1947 A.D.
Collection: National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi
Subject-matter and Composition: In this painting, the artist has shown a mythological event of Lord Shiva
and his wife Sati (Parvati). In the center of the picture, Lord Shiva and Sati have been depicted prominently
in the sad mood. Shiva has been shown in sitting pose looking at the Sati’s faded face helplessly and
stretching his both arms to support Sati’s body which is lying on his left knee in unconscious state wearing
necklaces, ear rings, armlets, bracelets and light red colour saree to cover Sati’s body and sensitive organs.
An aura of light yellow colour has been shown behind Shiva’s head. His forehead is looking bright. His hair is
tied with bun on the top but it is spreading behind his both shoulders. He is wearing necklace and a snake
around his neck. The torso of Shiva is looking a little bulky. This is a dramatic depiction on offset paper using
the yellowish, brownish, violet and reddish colours in various shades and tones. In the background as well
as foreground of the picture, the light and dark combination of brownish and yellowish colours have been
used to show sky which goes to merge with earth’s surface looking undulating shape through violet,
brownish and whitish colours.
Q.2. Write a note on the following Artists of Bengal School.
(a) Abanindranath Tagore (b) Nandalal Bose

Ans.2. (a) Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951)

Abanindranath Tagore was born in the Tagore family in Jorasanko, West-Bengal noted for its cultural
atmosphere, in 1871. He was the creator of the Bengal School of painting and restored national pride by
reviving the greatness of traditional Indian Painting. Abanindranath received formal training in pastels,
water colour and life study under Signor Ghilardi, an Italian artist. He learned oil painting and portraiture
from Chales Palmer, an English professional artist. Professor E.B. Havell, Principal Government Art College,
Calcutta was greatly impressed by his versatility and offered him the post of Vice-Principal, the first Indian
to be so chosen. Under his guidance, Abanindranath studied the Rajput and Mughal school of miniature
painting. Afterwards he began a series of paintings based on ‘Krishnalila’ and followed it by ‘Arabian Nights’
series which fused myth and the Contemporary life of Calcutta. He evolved a new style of painting by fusing
the technique of tempera with Japanese technique of wash which left no shadows and created a dream
world of soft colours. Some of his great paintings are Journey’s End, Bharat Mata, Death of Shahjahan,
Ganesh Janani, Radha Krishna and Omar Khayyam etc. Abanindranath can be called the Father of Modern
Indian Painting. He was the first major artistic figure of Modern India and evolved a national style based on
Indian Traditional Painting and offered an alternative to Western stylistic norm.
Ans.2. (b) Nandalal Bose (1883-1966)
After Abanindranath, he is acknowledge as the second major painter of the Bengal school. His skill as pa
painter was quite apparent in his school days when he copied paintings of great masters like Raphael and
Raja Ravi Varma. He enrolled as a student of Calcutta school of Art and Craft in 1905 and learnt painting
directly from the great master Abanindranath who was then the Vice-Principal of the school. After
graduating from the school, he joined the Bengal School of Painting under Abanindranath.
Nandlal refused to join the art school as a teacher and preferred to stay at Jorasanko, the home of the
Tagore family and his close contact with Dr. A.K. Coomaraswamy, Sister Nivedita, Rabindranath Tagore
helped him to widen his intellectual horizon. He Illustrated the literary works of Rabindranath specially the
book of Alphabets for many Years.
He assisted to Lady Herringham, a British Mural Painter in making copies of Ajanta cave paintings in 1910-
11, which gave him opportunity to come in close contact with the greatest masterpieces of ancient Indian
Art, whic h brought great change and maturity in his artistic style.
Around 1920 he joind Kala Bhawan, Shantiniketan as Principal. His great love for Indian tradition inspired
him to paint on mythological themes more realistically. His best works like Shiva and Shati, ‘Shiva drinking
poison’, Partasarathi, Sati and Return of the Buddha are all rooted in Indian tradition. His mural for Kala
Bhawan, and panels of the Faizpur (Lucknow) and Haripura Congress depict the life of the common people.
Though Nandlal was aware of the international artistic trends, he remained nationalistic to the core
throughout his life. He retired from the principal of Kala Bhawan in 1951 and produced illustrious students
like Ramkinkar Vaij and Vinod Behari Mukharjee. He receved Doctorate degree from Banaras Hindu
University, D.Lit. from Calcatta University and Deshikottam from Visva Bharti, Padms Vibhusan from Govt.
of India and Fellowship of Lalit Kala Academy.
Q3. What has the artist displayed in ‘Radhika’? Describe the subject- matter and
compositional arrangement of this painting.

Ans.3. (Students write the appropriate answer for this question yourself)

Q4. Describe the characteristics of the painting Meghdoot.

Ans.4. (Students write the appropriate answer for this question yourself)

Q.5. Write a note on the following Artists of Bengal School.

(a) M.A.R. Chughtai (b) Ram Gopal Vijayvargiya

Ans.5. (Students write the appropriate answer for this question yourself)

Q.6. Mention the five Names of the Bengal school’s artists. Which is included in your
course of study?

Ans.6. (Students write the appropriate answer for this question yourself)