Several events of the 1930s and 1940s shaped modern Indian art. Arran…

Several events of the 1930s and 1940s shaped modern Indian art. Arrange the following in the order in which they took place:

(A) The Bengal famine broke out and ravaged the region.

(B) Amrita Sher-Gil died, leaving behind a remarkable body of work.

(D) Artists in Bombay formed a group called The Progressives.

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 3

The correct answer is Option (3) → (B), (A), (C), (D)

(B) Amrita Sher-Gil died — First. She died in 1941, and the events of the 1940s in Bengal came soon after her death.
(A) The Bengal famine broke out — Second. World War–II affected India soon after Sher-Gil’s death, and the famine was one of its indirect outcomes.
(C) The Calcutta Group was formed — Third. The famine’s humanitarian crisis made artists reflect on their role, and in 1943 a few young artists formed the group.
(D) The Progressives were formed in Bombay — Fourth. Another set of artists formed this group in 1946, led by Francis Newton Souza.

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): “Modern Ideologies and Political Art in India Soon after Sher-Gil’s death, India, still under British rule, was deeply affected by global events like World War–II. One of the indirect outcomes was the outbreak of the Bengal famine, which ravaged the region forcing massive rural migration to cities. The humanitarian crisis compelled many artists to reflect on their role in society. In 1943, under the leadership of Prodosh Das Gupta, a sculptor, few young artists formed the Calcutta Group, which included Nirode Mazumdar, Paritosh Sen, Gopal Ghose and Rathin Moitra.”

“The Progressive Artists’ Group of Bombay and the Multifaceted Indian Art …In Bombay, another set of artists formed a group, called The Progressives in 1946. Francis Newton Souza was the outspoken leader of the group, which included M. F. Husain, K. H. Ara, S. A. Bakre, H. A. Gade and S. H. Raza.”