Fine ArtsThe Pahari Schools of Painting

B. N. Goswamy took the family of artists as the basis of Pahari style…

B. N. Goswamy took the family of artists as the basis of Pahari style. Which of the following is NOT part of his view?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 4

The correct answer is Option (4) → The sudden change in style was caused by the migration of artists from the Mughal atelier.

Option (1) Identifying Pahari paintings on the basis of regions could be misleading. — Part of his view. He holds that sorting Pahari paintings by region could mislead, as political boundaries were always fluid.
Option (2) The family of Pandit Seu (Shiv) was chiefly responsible for the course of Pahari painting. — Part of his view. This is his central argument: the Seu family steered the course of Pahari painting.
Option (3) It was the naturalism in the newly arrived paintings that appealed to Pahari artists. — Part of his view. For Goswamy, the naturalism of these paintings is what appealed to Pahari artists.
Option (4) The sudden change in style was caused by the migration of artists from the Mughal atelier. — Not part of his view. This is the earlier hypothesis that most scholars now dispute. Goswamy explains the change by the appeal of naturalism, not by artists moving from the Mughal atelier.

NCERT (2026-27): “The Pahari Schools of Painting …B. N. Goswamy, one of the most significant scholars of the Pahari Schools of Painting, has attributed the shaping of Pahari style from … the simplicity of Basohli to poetic lyricism and refinement of Kangra to the ingenuity of a family of artists through his scholarly approach of family as the basis of style. His central argument is that the family of Pandit Seu (Shiv) was chiefly responsible for the course of Pahari paintings. He argues that identifying Pahari paintings on the basis of regions could be misleading as political boundaries were always fluid. …Most scholars, now, dispute the earlier hypothesis that the sudden change was caused and initiated by the migration of artists from the Mughal atelier. For Goswamy, it was the naturalism in these paintings that appealed to the sensibilities of Pahari artists.”

B. N. Goswamy took the family of artists as the basis of Pahari style. Which of the following is NOT part of his view?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 4

The correct answer is Option (4) → The sudden change in style was caused by the migration of artists from the Mughal atelier.

Option (1) Identifying Pahari paintings on the basis of regions could be misleading. — Part of his view. He holds that sorting Pahari paintings by region could mislead, as political boundaries were always fluid.
Option (2) The family of Pandit Seu (Shiv) was chiefly responsible for the course of Pahari painting. — Part of his view. This is his central argument: the Seu family steered the course of Pahari painting.
Option (3) It was the naturalism in the newly arrived paintings that appealed to Pahari artists. — Part of his view. For Goswamy, the naturalism of these paintings is what appealed to Pahari artists.
Option (4) The sudden change in style was caused by the migration of artists from the Mughal atelier. — Not part of his view. This is the earlier hypothesis that most scholars now dispute. Goswamy explains the change by the appeal of naturalism, not by artists moving from the Mughal atelier.