After the Partition of Bengal in 1905, the Swadeshi movement shaped ideas about art. At this time, the art historian Ananda Coomaraswamy joined hands with the Japanese nationalist Kakuzo Okakura. Whom was Okakura visiting in Calcutta?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Rabindranath Tagore
Option (1) Abanindranath Tagore — Incorrect. He led the Bengal School with the support of E. B. Havell. Okakura was not visiting him.
Option (2) E. B. Havell — Incorrect. He was the British principal of the Calcutta School of Art who backed Abanindranath. He was not Okakura’s host.
Option (3) Rabindranath Tagore — Correct. Okakura was visiting Rabindranath Tagore in Calcutta when Coomaraswamy joined hands with him. He brought his ideas of pan-Asianism.
Option (4) Nandalal Bose — Incorrect. He was a student of Abanindranath, invited by Rabindranath to head the painting department at Kala Bhavana.
NCERT (2026-27): “Pan-Asianism and Modernism …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.” |