Read the passage on Neo-Tantric art and answer the question that follows.
In the 1960s, Biren De and G. R. Santosh in Delhi and K. C. S. Paniker in Madras turned to the past and local artistic traditions to create a unique Indian abstract art. This style came to be known as Neo-Tantric art because of its use of geometrical designs seen in traditional diagrams for meditation or yantras.
During the height of which movement did such works find a ready market with galleries and collectors?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Hippie movement
Option (1) Group 1890 movement — Incorrect. J. Swaminathan formed Group 1890 in India in 1963. Its artists wrote about rough texture and surface; the market for Neo-Tantric works is not linked to it.
Option (2) Progressive Artists’ Group movement — Incorrect. From the time of the Bombay Progressive Artist’s Group, artists began to write manifestos. It is not the time of the Neo-Tantric market.
Option (3) Hippie movement — Correct. Neo-Tantric works were made during the height of the Hippie movement in the West. They found a ready market with galleries and collectors.
Option (4) Expressionist movement — Incorrect. Expressionism is one of the western modern trends an Indian artist could freely use. The market for Neo-Tantric works is not linked to it.
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 …Many Indian artists and critics grew worried about their imitation of modern art from the West and felt the need to establish an Indian identity in their art. 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.…” “Abstraction – A New Trend …Since the time of the Bombay Progressive Artist’s Group, artists began to write their own manifestos or writings, in which they declared the main aims of their art and how it differed from others. In 1963, another group was formed under the leadership of J. Swaminathan, named Group 1890.…” |