The passage below is about pan-Asianism and modern European art in India. Read it and answer the question that follows.
Kakuzo Okakura, a Japanese nationalist, came to India with his ideas about pan-Asianism. Two Japanese artists accompanied him to Calcutta, who went to Shantiniketan to teach wash technique of painting to Indian students as an alternative to western oil painting.
The year 1922 may be regarded as a remarkable one, when an important exhibition of works by Paul Klee, Kandinsky and other artists, who were part of the Bauhaus School in Germany, travelled to Calcutta. These European artists had rejected academic realism, which appealed to the Swadeshi artists.
As mentioned in the passage, which style of art had the European artists of the Bauhaus School rejected?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Academic realism
Option (1) Western oil painting — Incorrect. The Japanese artists taught the wash technique as an alternative to western oil painting. The passage does not link oil painting to the Bauhaus artists.
Option (2) Academic realism — Correct. The Bauhaus artists had rejected academic realism, and this appealed to the Swadeshi artists.
Option (3) Wash technique of painting — Incorrect. The wash technique was taught at Shantiniketan by two Japanese artists. It has nothing to do with the Bauhaus artists.
Option (4) Cubist style — Incorrect. The Cubist style was used by Gaganendranath Tagore. The Bauhaus artists created an abstract language of squares, circles, lines and colour patches.
NCERT (2026-27): “Pan-Asianism and Modernism …If, on one hand, pan-Asianism was gaining popularity, ideas about modern European art also travelled to India. Hence, the year 1922 may be regarded as a remarkable one, when an important exhibition of works by Paul Klee, Kandinsky and other artists, who were part of the Bauhaus School in Germany, travelled to Calcutta. These European artists had rejected academic realism, which appealed to the Swadeshi artists. They created a more abstract language of art, consisting of squares, circles, lines and colour patches.” |