Observe the painting and answer the following questions.
From which art style is this painting inspired?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Bengal Pat folk Art
In the mid-1920s, Jamini Roy travelled to the Bengal countryside to collect pats, the folk paintings of Bengal, and to learn from folk artisans. The flat, two-dimensional look of Woman with Child is derived from these pat paintings.
Option (1) Pahari Miniature — Incorrect. Pahari miniatures are small, delicate paintings made for the hill kingdoms, such as Basohli and Kangra. Roy’s figures are bold and flat, with thick outlines.
Option (2) Mughal Miniature — Incorrect. Mughal miniatures are the finely detailed court paintings of the Mughal emperors. Roy chose bold, simple folk forms instead of such fine finish.
Option (3) Bengal Pat folk Art — Correct. Roy borrowed the volume, rhythm and decorative clarity of the pat.
Option (4) European Modernism — Incorrect. Roy noticed that Bengal folk art had much in common with modern European masters like Picasso and Paul Klee. But he learnt his style from the village pats, after giving up his own academic art training.
NCERT (2026-27): “Woman with Child …In the mid –1920s, he travelled to the countryside of Bengal to collect folk paintings (pats) and learn from folk artisans. He wanted to learn from the expressive power of their lines. In this painting, a mother and her child are rendered with bold simplifications and thick outlines with sweeping brush strokes. The painting exudes a crude vigour hitherto unknown in Indian art. Figures are coloured in dull yellow and brick-red background, emulating the terracotta relief of his home village in Bankura. The two-dimensional nature of the painting is derived from pat paintings and his search for simplicity and pure form is visible. Roy borrowed volume, rhythm, decorative clarity and instrumentality of the pat in his artworks.…”
Woman with Child |
