Kakuzo Okakura came to India with his ideas about pan-Asianism. Who among the following joined hands with him during his visit?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Ananda Coomaraswamy
Option (1) Benoy Sarkar — Incorrect. Benoy Sarkar was a Bengali intellectual who sided with the anglicists in ‘The Futurism of Young Asia’.
Option (2) Ananda Coomaraswamy — Correct. Ananda Coomaraswamy, an art historian who wrote about Swadeshi in art, joined hands with Okakura.
Option (3) Abanindranath Tagore — Incorrect. Abanindranath Tagore worked with E. B. Havell to Indianise art education at the Government Art School, Calcutta. Okakura’s partner was Coomaraswamy.
Option (4) Partha Mitter — Incorrect. Partha Mitter is the art historian quoted on the first generation of Abanindranath’s students.
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. He came to India with his ideas about pan-Asianism, by which he wanted to unite India with other eastern nations and fight against western imperialism.” |