BENGAL SCHOOL OF PAINTING

1. Background

• The Bengal School of Art is generally known as Bengal School. It was an art movement. It is also a style of Indian painting.
• It was instituted in Bengal which was primarily Kolkata and Shantiniketan.
• In the early 20th century during the British Raj, the Bengal School flourished throughout the Indian subcontinent.
• In its early days, Bengal School was also known as the ‘Indian style of painting’.
• It was led by Abanindranath Tagore from 1871 to 1951 and was associated with Indian nationalism. He was the first major exponent of Swadeshi values in Indian art.
• It was also being promoted and supported by British arts administrators like E. B. Havell. E. B. Havell has been the principal of the Government College of Art and Crafts in Kolkata since 1896. Abanindranath Tagore was known as the principal artist and creator of the “Indian Society of Oriental Art”.
• He founded the influential Bengal School of art.
• When one thinks of the influence that British Rule had on Indian life, the dramatic impact on Indian art cannot be ignored.
• While local artists across the country aligned themselves to create art that suited British requirements for several decades, a significant reaction against colonial influence was witnessed with the birth of the Bengal School of Art in the early 20th century.

(New Clouds, 1937 by Nandalal Bose, a renowned Bengal School artist)

• Rooted in the pride of nationalism, the avant-garde movement transformed Indian art by bringing ‘Swadeshi’ values to Indian Paintings. Led by reformers and artists like E.B. Havell and Abanindranath Tagore, the Bengal School of Art originated in erstwhile Calcutta and Santiniketan, but spread across the country as a voice against Western influence.

(Abanindranath Tagore)

2. The Main Features of the Bengal School of Painting :

• Based on Indian Traditions: The Bengal School is fully based on the Indian traditional style as the subject matter of this school is based on Indian culture. The paintings are based on Indian themes like ‘Mahakali, ‘Shiva Parwati’Krishna and Gopis etc. proving the Bengal School’s Indian mentality.
• Influence of Ajanta Paintings: Bengal school is influenced by Ajanta Art. The qualities of Ajanta Art like rhythm, grace, harmony etc. are visible in Bengal School.
• Linear Delicacy: The lines of Bengal School resemble the Ajanta Paintings. Lines are delicate and rhythmic.
• Softness and Rhythm in Figures: The figures of Bengal School give a soft effect and no hardness is there. They are graceful and have delicacy. They are rhythmic and provide a pleasant experience to the eyes.
• Beautiful Colour Scheme: The colours of Bengal School are very attractive. The Wash technique is used and the colours are not bright and gaudy at all.
• Influence of Mughal and Rajasthani Schools: Mughal and Rajasthani Schools’ influence can also be seen in some places.
• Light and Shade: The softness in the paintings of Bengal School is due to its quality of brilliant light and shade.
• Impressive and Indian Subject Matter: The subject matter of Bengal School is very impressive and Indian in character. The themes used are historical, religious, literary etc.

3. Features

Bengal Artists gave a sense of direction to the first art movement in the country. They sowed confidence in the traditional values and rich heritage of Indin Art by giving the Indians a new cultural consciousness.

1. The Bengal artist adopted a new Japanese watercolour technique which was synthesized with European transparent water colour and Indian tempera called the ‘Wash technique’. ‘Wash became the hallmark of Bengal School.
2. Bengal painters were inspired by Ajanta and Bagh, Mughal and Rajput and Shilpasastra. Chinese cloth painting and Japanese woodcuts were fused with themes mostly from Indian mythology and religion, epics and classical literature.
3. During this period all types of painting including religious, social and historical events, birds and animals and landscapes were painted.
4. The colours are soft without shadow and conventional perspective giving a mystic sense of space and atmosphere and diluting the impact of colour. The Bengal painters introduced the linear delicacy, rhythm and grace of Ajanta.

4. Characteristics of Bengal School

• Effects of Ajanta: Linear delicacy, rhythm and grace of Ajanta can be seen in the Bengal School of painting.
• Full of the traditional style of painting.
• Simple and clear painting, can be understood easily.
• Figures are delicate and graceful.
• There is no hardness and rhythm.
• Attractive colour scheme. The Wash technique is used to bring harmony to the painting.
• The impact of Mughal and Rajasthani paintings can be seen.
• Light and shade have added softness to the painting.
• The colour scheme is attractive with a mixture of tempera and Japanese wash techniques.
• Colours are soft and have added spatial quality.

5. Abanindranath Tagore and E. B. Havell

• Havell and Abanindranath Tagore devised a curriculum that included and encouraged Indian art techniques and themes.
• “The first generation of Abanindranath pupils engaged in rediscovering the lost language of Indian painting,” says art historian Partha Mitter.
• Abanindranath was the prominent artist and founder of a vital periodical, the Indian Society of Oriental Art, to raise awareness that contemporary Indians may profit from this rich history.
• In this way, he was also the first significant proponent of Swadeshi principles in Indian art, as seen by the founding of the Bengal School of Art.
• Many younger artists, such as Kshitindranath Majumdar (Rasa-Lila) and M. R. Chughtai, adopted Abanindranath’s new path (Radhika).

6. Contribution of the Bengal School of Painting to the National Freedom Movement.

• Supporters of Bengal School, aroused the feeling of Nationalism.
• They selected the theme of painting from Indian classics, mythology and the glorious past.
• It brought the feeling of patriotism.
• It established cultural values.
• This phase is also called the renaissance of Indian painting.
• Bengal artists painted the National Leaders and Swarajya movement.
• Artists decorated the congress pandal at Haripura.
• Indian art had suffered at the hands of invaders, first Mughals destroyed the Indian classical art and then Britishers the Indian miniature art. Art of religious importance was made to feel inferior. Even Indians started feeling the same.
• At this time Bengal School played a great role in the revivalist movement to help art in gaining national identity and contributed to the freedom movement.
• They developed an indigenous yet modern style of art.
• Abanindranath Tagore was the first to introduce Indian national values in art and was the founder of “The Indian Society Of Oriental Art.”

7. Themes of Bengal School of Painting

• Historical painting – Historical events were painted in the style. E.g Budha and Sujata by Ananadranath Tagore, Akbar and Kunal by Asit Kumar
• Religious painting  - Shiv Parvati, Mahakali, Krishna and Gopi
• Literacy themes – Themes were liberally painted. Megh Doot by Asit Kumar Halder
• Social Life – Lot of social and daily life paintings eg. Hardwar Merchant, Beggar
• Birds and Animals – They have been painted beautifully and expressive. In the last journey end of the camel has been portryed. The expressions on the face of the camel are very touchy.
• Landscape painting – Beautifully done

8. Prominent and famous paintings of Bengal school

• Journey’s end ---- Abanandrinath Tagore
• Ras – Leela --- Kshitindranath Majumdar
• Radhika --- M.A.R.Chughtai
• Shiv and Sati --- Nandalal Bose
• Meghdoot --- Ram Gopal Vijaivergiya

9. The Cause of the Rise

• During the British Raj, the traditional Indian approach towards painting had lost its identity. Since the traditional painting styles didn’t appeal to British tastes, they introduced a new form of painting in India in the late 1700s.
• Known as ‘Company Paintings’, specifically catering to British collectors, they captured India’s flora, fauna, ancient monuments, festivals, and ‘exotic new people’.
• Done mostly in watercolours, they were more documental than imaginative, characterized in technique by the use of linear perspectives and shading.

(Bahadur Khan with men of his clan; an 1815 Company Painting)

(Green Winged Macaw; Company Painting circa 1780)

• Soon, artists like Raja Ravi Varma also began popularizing the Western techniques of realism and oil on canvas. But certain factions of the art world began to feel that the voice of the Indian artist was getting suppressed, with no room left for originality or imagination.

10. Start of the Movement

• Ironically, it was an English gentleman, Ernest Binfield Havell, who first reacted against the academic style of painting being promoted by the British in India. E.B. Havell was the Principal of the Government College of Art, Calcutta from 1896 to 1905, where he encouraged students to imitate Mughal miniatures, which he believed expressed India’s spiritual qualities, as opposed to the ‘materialism’ of the West.
• Havell was supported tremendously in this endeavour by Abanindranath Tagore, the nephew of Rabindranath Tagore, who is known as the Founder of the movement famously known as the Bengal School of Art or the Bengal School.

(Birth of Krishna by Abanindranath Tagore)

11. Predominant Styles

• Though the Bengal School artists all had individualistic styles, a few common features distinctly stood out in their work, like the use of indigenous materials such as tempera, or a sombre colour palette with limited colours.
• The Ajanta style of painting, as well as Mughal, Rajasthani and Pahari styles were evident influences in the works made by Bengal School artists, who created simple art with elegant and refined figures.
• Bengal School artists typically painted romantic landscapes, historical themes and portraits, as well as scenes from daily rural life.

(Sati by Nandalal Bose)

• One of the most iconic paintings from the Bengal School is ‘Bharat Mata’ (Mother India) by Abanindranath Tagore, in which he depicted a young woman with four arms, holding objects symbolic of India’s national aspirations.

(Bharat Mata by Abanindranath Tagore, 1905)

• In an attempt to reject colonial aesthetics, Abanindranath Tagore also turned to China and Japan with the intent of promoting a pan-Asian aesthetic, that was completely separate from, and independent of, a Western influence. Japanese artist Okakura Kakuzo inspired him greatly, and the Japanese wash technique was imbibed by many Bengal School artists in their paintings.

(Journey's End by Abanindranath Tagore, circa 1913, demonstrates the use of the Japanese wash technique)

12. Drawing their inspiration

(Love Messenger by Gaganendranath Tagore)

• Nandalal Bose, a pupil of Abanindranath, was inspired by the murals of Ajanta and typically painted scenes from Indian mythology, women and village life.
• Asit Kumar Haldar, another renowned artist of the Bengal School, was inspired by Buddhist art and Indian history and took a lyrical and poetic approach in his painting.

(Shiva Drinking the World Poison by Nandalal Bose)

(Dhruva by Asit Kumar Haldar)

13. Decline

• With the spread of modernist ideas in the 1920s, the influence of the Bengal School began to decline. But there is no doubt that the revolutionary movement fuelled artists to look for a distinct Indian identity, and in that sense, the Bengal School was the harbinger of Modern Art in India.
• To date, the Government College of Art and Craft in Kolkata and the Viswa Bharati University in Santiniketan continue to train students in the traditional styles of tempera and wash painting, carrying forward the legacy of one of the most significant periods in Indian art.