The modern Indian artists and art schools of the twentieth century to…

The modern Indian artists and art schools of the twentieth century took new paths. Consider the following statements:

(A) Jamini Roy rejected his own training received at the Government School of Art, Calcutta.

(B) Somnath Hore’s Children is a graphic print on paper done with monochromatic etching with aquatint.

(D) Kala Bhavana, India’s first nationalist art school at Shantiniketan, was conceptualised by Abanindranath Tagore.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 3

The correct answer is Option (3) → Three

(A) Jamini Roy rejected his own training received at the Government School of Art, Calcutta. — Correct. Roy had studied under Abanindranath Tagore and saw the futility of academic art.

(B) Somnath Hore’s Children is a graphic print on paper done with monochromatic etching with aquatint. — Correct. Hore made this etching with aquatint in 1958.

(C) The Bengal School, nurtured by Abanindranath Tagore and E. B. Havell, was a prime example of nationalist art. — Correct. Nationalist art rose against the British view that Indians could not make fine art.

(D) Kala Bhavana, India’s first nationalist art school at Shantiniketan, was conceptualised by Abanindranath Tagore. — Incorrect. Kala Bhavana was set up in 1919 at Visva-Bharati University, which was conceptualised by poet Rabindranath Tagore, not Abanindranath.

Note: This topic was not named in the CUET 2026 syllabus, but it was part of the NCERT chapter. In 2025 and 2026, NTA also asked questions on topics in NCERT that the CUET syllabus did not name. So our mocks have questions from every part of the NCERT chapter, to give you enough practice. Read the whole chapter, not only the sub-topics named in the syllabus.

NCERT (2026-27): “Introduction to Modernism in India …As mentioned in the previous chapter, it was against this colonial bias that nationalist art emerged, and the Bengal School of Art, as nurtured by Abanindranath Tagore and E. B. Havell, was a prime example. India’s first nationalist art school, Kala Bhavana, was set up in 1919 as part of the newly established Visva-Bharati University in Shantiniketan, conceptualised by poet Rabindranath Tagore. It carried the vision of the Bengal School but also followed its own path in creating art meaningful for Indians.”

“Introduction to Modernism in India …If rural community was important for Benode Behari Mukherjee and Ramkinker Baij, Jamini Roy, too, made his art relevant to this context. We had briefly discussed Roy in the last chapter as an artist, who rejected his own training received at the Government School of Art, Calcutta. Being a student of Abanindranath Tagore, he realised the futility of pursuing academic art.”

“Children …This is a graphic print on paper done with monochromatic etching with aquatint made by Somnath Hore (1921–2006) in 1958. The experience of the Bengal Famine of 1943, left a lasting impression on him.”