The statements below are about writers and artists of the Bengal School period. Consider the following statements:
(A) Ananda Coomaraswamy wrote about Swadeshi in art and joined hands with Kakuzo Okakura.
(B) Kshitindranath Majumdar, who painted Rasa-Lila, followed the new direction opened by Abanindranath.
(C) Jamini Roy borrowed volume, rhythm and decorative clarity from Mughal miniatures in his artworks.
(D) Ananda Coomaraswamy was the main artist and creator of the journal Indian Society of Oriental Art.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → (A) and (B) only
(A) Ananda Coomaraswamy wrote about Swadeshi in art and joined hands with Kakuzo Okakura. — Correct. Coomaraswamy, an art historian, wrote about Swadeshi in art and joined hands with Okakura, a Japanese nationalist visiting Rabindranath Tagore.
(B) Kshitindranath Majumdar, who painted Rasa-Lila, followed the new direction opened by Abanindranath. — Correct. He was one of the younger artists who followed Abanindranath, along with M. R. Chughtai.
(C) Jamini Roy borrowed volume, rhythm and decorative clarity from Mughal miniatures in his artworks. — Incorrect. Roy borrowed these from the pat, the folk painting of Bengal. Mughal and Pahari miniatures inspired Abanindranath, as in Journey’s End.
(D) Ananda Coomaraswamy was the main artist and creator of the journal Indian Society of Oriental Art. — Incorrect. This journal was created by Abanindranath Tagore, to show that modern Indians could benefit from their rich past.
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): “Pan-Asianism and Modernism The colonial art policy had created a divide between those who liked the European academic style and those who favoured Indian style. But following the Partition of Bengal in 1905, the Swadeshi movement was at its peak and it reflected in ideas about art. Ananda Coomaraswamy, an important art historian, wrote about Swadeshi in art and joined hands with a Japanese nationalist, Kakuzo Okakura, who was visiting Rabindranath Tagore in Calcutta. …” “Abanindranath Tagore and E. B. Havell … To create awareness that modern Indians could benefit from this rich past, Abanindranath was the main artist and creator of an important journal, Indian Society of Oriental Art. In this manner, he was also the first major supporter of Swadeshi values in Indian art, which best manifested in the creation of Bengal School of Art. This school set the stage for the development of modern Indian painting. The new direction opened by Abanindranath was followed by many younger artists like Kshitindranath Majumdar (Rasa-Lila) and M. R. Chughtai (Radhika).” “Woman with Child This is a gouache painting on paper made by Jamini Roy (1887–1972) in 1940. … The two-dimensional nature of the painting is derived from pat paintings and his search for simplicity and pure form is visible. Roy borrowed volume, rhythm, decorative clarity and instrumentality of the pat in his artworks. …” |