The Bengal School and Cultural Nationalism

About this unit

In the late 19th and early 20th century, many Indian artists and thinkers felt that art schools set up by the British were teaching only European academic methods. The Bengal School, led by Abanindranath Tagore with the support of E. B. Havell, searched for an "Indian" style rooted in Indian themes and older traditions such as Ajanta, Mughal and Rajput painting. This search was linked to cultural nationalism, the idea that a nation must also be free and confident in its culture. The unit covers the origin, artists and features of the Bengal School and its place in the national movement.

Key ideas

• Reaction against European academic realism and oil painting as taught in colonial art schools.
• Abanindranath Tagore's "Bharat Mata" became an icon of the Swadeshi period.
• The wash technique was developed with ideas from Japanese artists.
• Nandalal Bose and Kala Bhavana at Santiniketan carried the movement forward.
• Art became part of nationalist expression, from posters to the illustrated Constitution.

How to prepare

• Memorise key names: Abanindranath, Havell, Okakura Kakuzo, Nandalal Bose, Asit Kumar Haldar, Raja Ravi Varma.
• Be able to describe "Bharat Mata" in words.
• Expect questions on the contrast between Ravi Varma and the Bengal School.