Nandalal Bose headed the painting department at Kala Bhavana, Shantiniketan. By paying attention to what did he begin to focus on the language of art?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → The folk art forms he saw around him
Option (1) The academic style taught in the colonial Art Schools — Incorrect. The Bengal School looked to Mughal and Pahari miniatures rather than the academic style taught in the colonial Art Schools.
Option (2) The folk art forms he saw around him — Correct. Nandalal paid attention to the folk art forms he saw around in Shantiniketan, and so began to focus on the language of art.
Option (3) The wash technique taught by two Japanese artists — Incorrect. Two Japanese artists who came with Kakuzo Okakura taught the wash technique at Shantiniketan as an alternative to western oil painting.
Option (4) The abstract art of the Bauhaus School artists — Incorrect. Works by Paul Klee, Kandinsky and other Bauhaus artists came to Calcutta in 1922. Their influence is seen in the paintings of Gaganendranath Tagore.
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): “Shantiniketan — Early modernism Nandalal Bose, a student of Abanindranath Tagore, was invited by poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore to head the painting department in the newly established Kala Bhavana. …At Kala Bhavana, Nandalal founded the intellectual and artistic milieu to create an Indian style in art. By paying attention to the folk art forms that he saw around in Shantiniketan, he began to focus on the language of art. He also illustrated primers in Bengali with woodcuts and understood the role of art in teaching new ideas.” |