The Birth And Evolution Of Modern Indian Art Article

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The Birth and Evolution of Modern Indian Art

Modern Indian art, as we know it today, is a product of a variety of influences over the years. It’s interesting to trace its origins back to the late 18th and early 19th centuries when the process actually began.

Author: Ajay Seth

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After the decline of the Mughal Empire, painters who had thrived under court patronage scattered around the country. Tanjore, Lucknow, Murshidabad, Patna, Nepal and the Punjab hills became their main area of study. At the same time, many European painters came and settled in India, bringing with them their own academic idiom. Some of these painters were J. Zoffany, Tilly Kettle, W. Danielle. They depicted the Indian landscape in a romanticised fashion through the medium of oil paintings. This technique impressed and influenced Indian artists who started using these new techniques. The result was a merging of eastern and western themes as well as techniques.

Over time, cultural imperialism had fully entrenched itself in the cultural milieu. Sources of patronage had changed and there was a visible change in attitude and styles of art. There was a conflict between notions of individuality and notions of artistic anonymity. It was at this time that many Art Societies and Colleges were set up. In the year 1854, the first Industrial Art Society was set up in Calcutta by Rajendralal Mitra, Justice Pratt, Jatindra Mohan Tagore and others. By 1864, this was converted into the Calcutta Government College of Art. Soon to follow were the Bombay Government Art College and the Madras Government College of Arts & Crafts. The fine art education catered to the European tastes, in terms of themes, and mediums, perspective, chiaroscuro, portraiture, landscape and still life, to name a few.

Talk of evolution of modern Indian Art is incomplete without a mention of paintings of Indian artists like Raja Ravi Varma and Amrita Sher-Gil. Varma was the first Indian artist to master the oil on canvas technique. He took India back to feudal themes and arrived at a fusion of Indian themes. Varma’s purposeful choice of medium was a conscious step to be accepted not only by the British but also the Indian aristocracy as it denoted progress.

Without blindly copying English artists living and painting in India, he combined the technique of oil painting with the decorative attitudes of Tanjore glass painting and the drama of Marathi theatre to create a fusion between the east and west. He was upheld by the British as a true ‘gentleman’ artist who struggled to create a new modern language in the Indian art context. What’s more, he imbibed western techniques and European aesthetics to do so. He set an example which was followed by the likes of Hansaji Raghunath, Pestonjee Bomanji, M.V. Dhurandhar, and later, M.F.Pithawala, A.X. Trinidade, Hemendranath Mazumdar, Atul Bose and others.

Amrita Sher-Gil was one of the most celebrated Indian artists of pre-independence era and among the initiator of modern Indian art, merging European and Hungarian traditions with ancient Indian art. She was also the youngest as well as the only Indian artist to be elected as an Associate of the Grand Salon in Paris. Her paintings show a significant influence of the western modes of painting. Amrita’s works also reflect vividly her deep passion & sense for colours, her love for the country and more importantly her response to the life of its people. Her deep understanding of the Indian subjects also comes across through her paintings.
This is how the Modern Indian Art as we know it today was born.

About Author

Ajay Seth is the founder and Chief Mentor for Copal Art. An entrepreneurial spirit has been the hallmark and driving force behind of Mr. Seth’s 38 year career. Prior to founding Copal Art, http://www.copalart.com in 2006, Mr. Seth was the CEO and Managing Director of Lovett & Virginia focused on diversified personal care products. With a historical background in accounting and audit,

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The Birth and Evolution of Modern Indian Art