What is the commonality in the subject matter drawn by both the Bombay Progressives and the Calcutta group during the 1940s and 1950s?

1. Urban landscapes
2. Mythological themes
3. Rural India
4. European influence

3

Answer: Rural India
The subject matter in painting and sculpture was largely drawn from rural India, and this is the case even with the Bombay Progressives and the Calcutta group during the 1940s and 1950s.

An interesting fact to note about modern Indian art is that the subject matter in painting and sculpture was largely drawn from rural India. This is the case even with the Bombay Progressives and the Calcutta group during 1940s and 1950s. City and urban life rarely appeared in works of Indian artists. Perhaps, it was felt that real India lives in villages. The Indian artists of the 1940s and 1950s rarely looked at their immediate cultural milieu.