What were the striking features of European art that influenced Company painting?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Close Observation
Indian artists who worked for the English had to record the world around them. So they relied more on close observation, a striking feature of European art, than on memory and rule books. This mix of traditional and European ways became the Company School of Painting.
Option (1) Folk art — Incorrect. Folk art is the art of village communities. It is an Indian tradition, not a feature of European art.
Option (2) Adapting their traditions — Incorrect. This is what the Indian painters did to please their new patrons; it is not a feature of European art.
Option (3) Close Observation — Correct. Painting from close study of real things was the European way the Company painters took up.
Option (4) Memory and Rule Books — Incorrect. Memory and rule books belong to traditional Indian art, the very practice close observation replaced.
NCERT (2026-27): “Company Painting …To please their new patrons, they had to adapt their traditional way of painting to document the world around them. This meant that they had to rely more on close observation, a striking feature of the European art, rather than memory and rule books, as seen in traditional art.…” |