Where was India’s first National Art School founded?

Shantiniketan

The term ‘Bengal School of Art’ is not fully accurate. It is true that the first move to create a modern, nationalist school happened in Bengal but it was not restricted to this region alone. It was an art movement and a style of painting that originated in Calcutta, the centre of British power, but later influenced many artists in different parts of the country, including Shantiniketan, where India’s first national art school was founded. It was associated with the nationalist movement (Swadeshi) and spearheaded by Abanindranath Tagore (1871–1951). Abanindranath enjoyed the support of British administrator and principal of the Calcutta School of Art, E. B. Havell (1861–1934). Both Abanindranath and Havell were critical of colonial Art Schools and the manner in which European taste in art was being imposed on Indians. They firmly believed in creating a new type of painting that was Indian not only in subject matter but also in style. 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.