By the end of the nineteenth century, the academic style of Raja Ravi Varma came to be looked down upon as foreign and too western. Which art movement emerged amidst this nationalist thinking in the first decade of the twentieth century?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Bengal School of Art
Option (1) Company School of Painting — Incorrect. This mix of traditional and European painting served English officers. It declined in the mid-nineteenth century, before this nationalist phase.
Option (2) Bengal School of Art — Correct. It grew out of the nationalist (Swadeshi) movement, led by Abanindranath Tagore, and sought a painting Indian in subject and style.
Option (3) Bombay School of Art — Incorrect. Its students were trained in realistic studies by its Principal, Gladstone Solomon, and got the mural project for Lutyen’s Delhi buildings.
Option (4) Madras School of Art — Incorrect. It was one of the colonial art schools, like those at Lahore and Bombay, whose primary focus was on crafts such as metalwork and furniture.
NCERT (2026-27): “Raja Ravi Varma …With the rise of nationalism in India by the end of the nineteenth century, this academic style embraced by Raja Ravi Varma came to be looked down upon as foreign and too western to show Indian myths and history. It is amidst such nationalist thinking that the Bengal School of Art emerged in the first decade of the twentieth century.” “The Bengal School …It was associated with the nationalist movement (Swadeshi) and spearheaded by Abanindranath Tagore (1871–1951).…” |