What artistic style flourished in the art schools set up by the British in India during the mid-nineteenth century?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Academic style of oil painting
Option (1) Mughal miniature painting — Incorrect. Mughal miniatures inspired the Bengal School artists. They were not the style of the colonial art schools.
Option (2) Academic style of oil painting — Correct. The art schools favoured the academic style of oil painting, a European medium used for Indian subjects.
Option (3) Company Painting — Incorrect. The Company School is named apart from the academic style taught in the colonial Art Schools.
Option (4) Bengal School of Art — Incorrect. The Bengal School arose later, in the first decade of the twentieth century, against the colonial Art Schools.
NCERT (2026-27): “Raja Ravi Varma …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. The most successful examples of this type of painting were found away from these art schools. They are best seen in the works produced by self-taught artist, Raja Ravi Varma of the Travancore Court in Kerala.…” “The Bengal School For them, Mughal and Pahari miniatures, for example, were more important sources of inspiration, rather than either the Company School of Painting or academic style taught in the colonial Art Schools.” |