Modern Indian painting

The essentials

Modern Indian painting moved beyond the Bengal School's revivalism. Artists looked for personal styles that spoke to modern life while remaining rooted in India.

Key points

• Amrita Sher-Gil (1913–1941): born in Budapest to an Indian father and Hungarian mother; trained in Paris. On returning to India she was moved by Ajanta and Indian miniatures. Her works, such as "Three Girls", "Bride's Toilet" and "Brahmacharis", show Indian village people, especially women, with warm earthy colours, simplified forms and a quiet, melancholy mood.
• Progressive Artists' Group (Bombay, 1947): founded by F. N. Souza with S. H. Raza, M. F. Husain, K. H. Ara, H. A. Gade and S. K. Bakre; aimed at bold modernism free of the Bengal School's revivalism.
• K. C. S. Paniker: a leader of the Madras school and founder of the Cholamandal Artists' Village near Chennai. In his "Words and Symbols" series he used script-like signs, numbers and symbols arranged on the surface, drawing on Malayalam script, horoscopes and diagrams.
• G. R. Santosh: from Kashmir; known for neo-tantric paintings using geometric forms and abstracted figures based on the union of Shiva and Shakti, inspired by Kashmir Shaivism.
• K. G. Subramanyan: studied at Santiniketan under Nandalal Bose and taught at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda; worked as painter, muralist, sculptor and writer; made murals in terracotta and other materials and drew freely on folk and craft traditions.

Exam tips

• Neo-tantric = G. R. Santosh; Cholamandal = Paniker; Baroda = K. G. Subramanyan.
• Sher-Gil's "Three Girls" is the most quoted example.

Common mistakes

• Calling Sher-Gil a Bengal School artist; she worked in oils with a modern Western training.