By the mid and late nineteenth century, art schools were set up in Lahore, Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. What did these art schools tend to promote?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Traditional Indian crafts, and academic and naturalist art
Option (1) Miniature painting and Ajanta-style murals — Incorrect. Artists like Nandalal Bose and Asit Kumar Haldar drew on Ajanta frescoes and miniatures, not these art schools.
Option (2) Cubism and Expressionism from modern Europe — Incorrect. These trends reached Gaganendranath and Rabindranath through art magazines.
Option (3) Traditional Indian crafts, and academic and naturalist art — Correct. The schools promoted these, in an art that reflected Victorian tastes.
Option (4) Folk art and the village crafts of rural Bengal — Incorrect. Rural folk art of Bengal inspired Jamini Roy, who rejected his academic training.
Note: This topic was not named in the CUET 2026 syllabus, but it was part of the NCERT chapter. In 2025 and 2026, NTA also asked questions on topics in NCERT that the CUET syllabus did not name. So our mocks have questions from every part of the NCERT chapter, to give you enough practice. Read the whole chapter, not only the sub-topics named in the syllabus.
NCERT (2026-27): “Introduction to Modernism in India Fine arts was seen as European by the British. They felt that Indians lacked training and sensibility to be able to create and appreciate fine arts. By mid and late nineteenth century, art schools were established in major cities like Lahore, Calcutta (now, Kolkata), Bombay (now, Mumbai) and Madras (now, Chennai). These art schools tended to promote traditional Indian crafts, and academic and naturalist art that reflected Victorian tastes.…” |