Fine ArtsThe Bengal School and Cultural Nationalism

By the end of the nineteenth century, the academic style embraced by…

By the end of the nineteenth century, the academic style embraced by Raja Ravi Varma came to be looked down upon in India. How was this style seen at that time?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 3

The correct answer is Option (3) → As foreign and too western to show Indian myths and history

Option (1) As a style suited to crafts rather than fine arts — Incorrect. The art schools in Lahore, Bombay and Madras focused on crafts like metalwork, furniture and curios. That was said of those schools, not of Ravi Varma’s style.
Option (2) As a poorer means of documentation than the camera — Incorrect. The camera offered a better way of documentation, so an earlier style declined with the entry of photography. That was not the charge against Ravi Varma.
Option (3) As foreign and too western to show Indian myths and history — Correct. With the rise of nationalism, his academic style was looked down upon as foreign and too western for Indian themes.
Option (4) As art meant for the elite, anglicised class of people — Incorrect. His paintings reached a wide public. They were copied as oleographs and entered homes as calendar images.

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): “…What, However, flourished in the art schools set up by the British was the academic style of oil painting that used a European medium to depict Indian subject matter. …They are best seen in the works produced by self-taught artist, Raja Ravi Varma of the Travancore Court in Kerala. …They became so popular that many of his paintings were copied as oleographs and were sold in market. They even entered people’s homes as calendar images. 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.…”

By the end of the nineteenth century, the academic style embraced by Raja Ravi Varma came to be looked down upon in India. How was this style seen at that time?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 3

The correct answer is Option (3) → As foreign and too western to show Indian myths and history

Option (1) As a style suited to crafts rather than fine arts — Incorrect. The art schools in Lahore, Bombay and Madras focused on crafts like metalwork, furniture and curios. That was said of those schools, not of Ravi Varma’s style.
Option (2) As a poorer means of documentation than the camera — Incorrect. The camera offered a better way of documentation, so an earlier style declined with the entry of photography. That was not the charge against Ravi Varma.
Option (3) As foreign and too western to show Indian myths and history — Correct. With the rise of nationalism, his academic style was looked down upon as foreign and too western for Indian themes.
Option (4) As art meant for the elite, anglicised class of people — Incorrect. His paintings reached a wide public. They were copied as oleographs and entered homes as calendar images.