Modern Indian art took new directions in the twentieth century. Consider the following statements:
(A) Neo-Tantric art may also be seen as Indianised naturalism.
(B) Santhal Family is made out of metal armature and cement mixed with pebbles.
(C) Many young artists in Calcutta were drawn to socialism, especially Marxism.
(D) Neo-Tantric art used geometrical designs seen in traditional diagrams for meditation or yantras.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → (B), (C) and (D) only
(A) Neo-Tantric art may also be seen as Indianised naturalism. — Incorrect. The style may be seen as Indianised abstraction. Its artists turned to local traditions to create a unique Indian abstract art.
(B) Santhal Family is made out of metal armature and cement mixed with pebbles. — Correct. Ramkinker Baij chose cement, the symbol of modernisation, over marble, wood or stone.
(C) Many young artists in Calcutta were drawn to socialism, especially Marxism. — Correct. Seeing abject poverty around them, they took up this philosophy of class difference.
(D) Neo-Tantric art used geometrical designs seen in traditional diagrams for meditation or yantras. — Correct. The style got its name from these yantra designs.
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): “Abstraction – A New Trend …In the 1960s, Biren De and G. R. Santosh in Delhi and K. C. S. Paniker in Madras moved in this direction when they turned to the past and local artistic traditions to create a unique Indian abstract art. This style became successful in the West and later in India and came to be known as Neo-Tantric art because of its use of geometrical designs seen in traditional diagrams for meditation or yantras. Such works made during the height of the Hippie movement in the West found a ready market, and were sought by galleries and collectors alike. This style may also be seen as Indianised abstraction.” “Santhal Family This is an open air large-scale sculpture created by Ramkinker Baij in 1937. It is made out of metal armature and cement mixed with pebbles, and placed in the compound of Kala Bhavana, Shantiniketan, India’s first national art school.…” “Modern Ideologies and Political Art in India …Seeing abject poverty around them and the plight of people in villages and cities, many young artists in Calcutta were drawn to socialism, especially Marxism. This modern philosophy, which was taught by Karl Marx in the mid–nineteenth century in the West, asked important questions about class difference in society and appealed to these artists.” |