COLONIAL PERIOD

Indian art can be classified into specific periods each

reflecting particular religious, political and cultural
developments.

•Ancient period (3900 BCE-1200 CE)

•Islamic ascendancy (1192-1757)
•Colonial period (1757–1940)
•Independence and the postcolonial period (Post-1947)

British India
(1612–1947)
East India Company
1612–1757
Company rule in India
1757–1858
British Raj
1858–1947
British rule in Burma
COMPANY SCHOOL
•Company style or Company painting (kampani kalam in Hindi) is a term for a
hybrid Indo-European style of paintings made in India by Indian artists,

•many of whom worked for European patrons in the British East India Company
or other foreign Companies in the 18th and 19th centuries

•‘Company Paintings’ were first produced in Madras Presidency in South

India.

•This new style of painting soon disseminated to other parts of India such as
Calcutta,
Murshidabad,
Patna,
Benares,
Lucknow,
Agra,
Delhi Punjab and Women in a Brothel, Company style, Northern India, 1800-25, opa
centres in Western India. watercolor and
Paintings of Company
School
•The eighteenth and nineteenth century India witnessed a new genre of
painting popularly known as ‘Company School’.

•It was so named because it emerged primarily under the patronage of the
British East India Company.

•The officials of the Company were interested in paintings that could

capture the“picturesque” and the “exotic” aspect of the land, besides
recording
•Indian the of
artists variety in thewith
that time, Indian way oftraditional
declining life whichpatronage,
they encountered.
fulfilled the
growing demand for paintings of flora and fauna, landscapes, historical
monuments, durbar scenes, images of native rulers, trades and occupations,
festivals, ceremonies, dance, music as well as portraits.
•The artists also changed their medium and now began to paint with
watercolour (instead of gouache) and also used pencil or sepia wash on
European paper.
BENGAL SCHOOL OF ART
The Bengal School of Art commonly referred
as Bengal School, was an influential art
movement and a style of Indian painting that
originated in Bengal, primarily Kolkata and
Shantiniketan, and flourished throughout
India during the British Raj in the early 20th
century. Also known as 'Indian style of
painting' in its early days, it was associated
with Indian nationalism (swadeshi) and led
by Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951), but
was also promoted and supported by British
arts administrators like E. B. Havell, the
principal of the Government College of Art, Bharat Mata by Abanindranath Tagore
Kolkata from 1896; eventually it led to the (1871-1951),
development of the modern Indian painting a nephew of the poet Rabindranath
Tagore, and
a pioneer of the movement
Modern Indian
painting
•The Progressive Artists' Group, established shortly after India became
independent
in 1947, was intended to establish new ways of expressing India in
the post-colonial era.

•The founders were six eminent artists

K. H. Ara,
S. K. Bakre,
H. A. Gade,
M.F. Husain,
S.H. Raza and
F. N. Souza,
though the group was dissolved in 1956,
it was profoundly influential in changing
the idiom of Indian art.

Gopakumar R P, 1995, Contrast, 3'x4',

Oil on Canvas
•Almost all India's major artists in the 1950s were associated with the group.
Some of those who are well-known today are Bal Chabda, Om Swami, V. S.
Gaitonde, Krishen Khanna, Ram Kumar, Tyeb Mehta, Beohar Rammanohar
Sinha and Akbar Padamsee.

•Other famous painters like Jahar Dasgupta, Prokash Karmakar, John

Wilkins,
Narayanan Ramachandran, and Bijon Choudhuri enriched the art culture of
India.They have become the icon of modern Indian art.
•Art historians like Prof. Rai Anand Krishna have also referred to those works
of modern artistes that reflect Indian ethos.

• Some of the new artists like Geeta Vadhera have had acclaim in translating
complex, Indian spiritual themes into the canvas – Sufi thought , Upanishads
and the Bhagwad Geeta, for example.

•From 1990 to till 2009 the Indian art is growing with powerful expression. one
of them is Raj mehta working in lucknow, recent work on women the silent
feature of women mind.the city of nawabs. it has the great history, ruled many
kings and the loving place of all emperial power.
Raj mehta work in painting and mural.
•kriti art gallery in varanasi explore his work in India.

• "Third Eye Series", is a new style of painting brought out by Narayanan

•Indian Art got a boost with the economic liberalisation of the country since
Ramachandran,
early 1990s.
during Artists
1990 from various fields now started bringing in varied styles of
to 2010.
work.

• Post-liberalisation Indian art thus works not only within the confines of
academic
traditions but also outside it.

• Artists like Chittrobhanu Majumdar, A Ramachandran, etc. have introduced

newer
mediums in art. In this phase, artists have introduced even newer concepts
which
have hitherto not been seen in Indian art.

•Devajyoti Ray has introduced a the new genre of art called Pseudorealism.
Pseudorealist Art is an original art style that has been developed entirely on the
Indian soil.
international art market
like Anish Kapoor whose mammoth artworks have acquired attention for their sheer
size.

•Many art houses and galleries have also opened in USA and Europe to showcase
Indian artworks.

•Some artists like chiman dangi(painter,printmaker) Bhupat Dudi, Subodh Gupta, Piu
Sarkar, Vagaram
Choudhary, Amitava Sengupta and many others have done magic world wide.Chhaya
Ghosh is a gifted painter,
and is pretty active in Triveni Art Gallery, New Delhi.