Nandalal Bose painted the ‘Haripura Posters’ for a Congress session. Why did Mahatma Gandhi invite him to paint these panels?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → He understood the role of art in teaching new ideas
Option (1) He had been trained in realistic studies at the Bombay School of Art — Incorrect. Realistic studies were taught at the Bombay School of Art by its Principal, Gladstone Solomon. Nandalal was a student of Abanindranath Tagore.
Option (2) He understood the role of art in teaching new ideas — Correct. Nandalal illustrated Bengali primers with woodcuts and understood the role of art in teaching new ideas. For this reason Gandhi invited him.
Option (3) He headed the painting department at Kala Bhavana — Incorrect. Rabindranath Tagore invited him to head the painting department at Kala Bhavana. This was his post at Shantiniketan, not the reason for Gandhi’s invitation.
Option (4) He had made pen-and-ink studies of the local villagers — Incorrect. Bose made these pen-and-ink brush studies to capture village life in the Haripura panels. They were part of the work on the panels, not the reason for the invitation.
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.… 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. For this reason, Mahatma Gandhi invited him to paint panels that were put on display at the Congress session at Haripura in 1937.…” “Tiller of the Soil …To capture the essence of village life in his Haripura panels, Bose made pen-and-ink brush studies of local villagers.…” |