The story of modern Indian art begins with fine arts under colonial rule. Consider the following statements:
(A) By mid and late nineteenth century, art schools were set up in Lahore, Calcutta, Bombay and Madras.
(B) These art schools promoted academic and naturalist art that reflected Victorian tastes.
(C) The crafts these schools supported were based on Indian taste and local market demands.
(D) The British felt that Indians lacked training and sensibility to create and appreciate fine arts.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → (A), (B) and (D) only
(A) By mid and late nineteenth century, art schools were set up in Lahore, Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. — Correct. These were the major cities where the art schools came up.
(B) These art schools promoted academic and naturalist art that reflected Victorian tastes. — Correct. Besides traditional Indian crafts, the schools promoted art of Victorian tastes.
(C) The Indian crafts supported by these schools were based on Indian taste and the demands of the local market. — Incorrect. The crafts that got support were based on European taste and the demands of its market.
(D) The British felt that Indians lacked training and sensibility to create and appreciate fine arts. — Correct. The British saw fine arts as European and doubted that Indians could create them.
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): “Introduction to Modernism in India Fine arts was seen as European by the British. They felt that Indians lacked training and sensibility to be able to create and appreciate fine arts. By mid and late nineteenth century, art schools were established in major cities like Lahore, Calcutta (now, Kolkata), Bombay (now, Mumbai) and Madras (now, Chennai). These art schools tended to promote traditional Indian crafts, and academic and naturalist art that reflected Victorian tastes. Even the Indian crafts, which received support, were the ones based on European taste and on the demands made by its market.” |