DAYAWATI MODI ACADEMY(2020-21) MODIPURAM MEERUT Class XII TEACHER NAME – MS. JYOTI KUMAR ASSIGNMENT AND NOTES – FINE ARTS

Bengal School

Introduction-

 The commonly referred as Bengal School, was an influential art movement and a style of Indian that originated in Bengal, primarily and Shanti niketan, and flourished Throughout 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 (1871-1951)

 He was also promoted and supported by British arts administrators like E. B. Havell, the principal of the Government College of Art, Kolkata from 1896; eventually it led to the development of the modern

Origin & Development

 The Bengal school arose as an avant garde and nationalist movement reacting against the academic art styles previously promoted in India, both by Indian artists such as Raja Varma and in British art schools.

 Following the influence of Indian spiritual ideas in the West, the British art teacher Ernest Binfield Havell attempted to reform the teaching methods at the Calcutta School of Art by encouraging students to imitate Mughal miniatures.

 Havell was supported by the artist Abanindranath Tagore, a nephew of the poet

 Tagore's best-known painting, Bharat Mata (Mother India), depicted a young woman, portrayed with four arms in the manner of Hindu deities, holding objects symbolic of India's national aspirations.

 Tagore later attempted to develop links with Japanese artists as part of an aspiration to construct a pan-Asianist model of art. Other painters and artists of Bengal school were GaganendranathTagore(Tagore's brother), Asit Kumar Haldar, M.A.R Chughtai, Sunayani Devi (sister of Abanindranath Tagore), Kshitindranath Majumdar, , Kalipada Ghoshal, Sughra Rababi and Sudhir Khastgir.

Bharat mata

Bharat Mata is a work painted by the Indian painter Abanindranath Tagore in 1905. The work depicts Bharat Mata, or Mother India, in the style of a Hindu Goddess. The painting was the first illustrated depiction of the concept, and was painted during with Swadesh ideals during the larger Indian Independence movement

EVOLUTION OF THE INDIAN NATIONAL FLAG

FIRST – 1906

The first National was hoisted on August 7, 1906 in the Parsee Bagan Square (Green Park), Kolkata. The flag was composed of three equal horizontal stripes of green, yellow and red. The green stripe on the top had eight white lotuses embossed in a row. The word Vande Mataram was inscribed in deep blue on the middle yellow stripe at the bottom had the sun in white on the left and the crescent and a star in white on the right

Middle 1921

The second flag came out in 1921; Pingali Vengaiyah (an Andhra youth) prepared a flag and handed it to Gandhiji. It was in two colour, red and green representing two major communities and a large charkha extending to both the bands as a symbol of progress. Gandhiji apparently was pleased with the Flag and suggested to the youth to introduce a white stripe in the middle and superimpose the charkha in blue on it.

FINAL STAGE – 1947

On July 22 1947, Constituent assembly adopted a new Flag as free India’s National Flag with saffron at the top, white at the middle and green at the bottom in equal proportions and the chakra in navy blue

on white stripe (Chakra which appears on the at as Dharma Chakra). The diameter of the wheel (Chakra) shall be approximate to the width of the white band at the middle. The ratio of the width and length of the Flag shall ordinarily be two breadths by three lengths. The significance of the colours is as follows: Saffron - Courage and sacrifice White - Truth and peace Green - Faith and chivalry

Ratio - 3:2

Abanindranath Tagore

Introduction

 Born in the family of artists and painters, it was expected that Abanindranath Tagore would continue this legacy. And eventually he did, for the nation got its "Father of India's Modern Art" in the form of Abanindranath Tagore.

 Nephew of the world-renowned Bengali poet, musician, painter, and playwright Rabindranath Tagore, Abanindranath is celebrated for his attempts of modernizing the Moghul and Rajput styles of art to come up with an Indian touch replacing the Western models

 Such was his devotion and affection towards painting that they traveled throughout the world and exhibited on various foreign lands.

 His modern Indian art saw several more painters being influenced, some of which include the notable and eminent Nandalal Bose, Asit Kumar Halder, Kshitindranath Majumder, Mukul Dey, Manishi Dey, and Jamini Roy.

Early Life

 He was born to Gunendranath Tagore, son of Girindranath Tagore

 His grandfather Girindranath and elder brother Gaganendranath were also prominent painters, who painted portraits and landscapes in the European style.

 Abanindranath himself grew up to excel in painting as well as writing.

 He attended the Sanskrit College from 1881 to 1889 where he gained interest for painting. . Soon after he left college, he was married off to Suhasini Devi in 1889. Suhasini was the daughter of Bhujagendra Bhusan Chatterjee,

Soon after that, Abanindranath took admission in St. Xavier's College to study English, for one and a half years

Career

 At about 25 years of age in 1897, Abanindranath started taking private painting lessons from an Italian artist, Signor Gilhardi, the Vice Principal of the Calcutta Government School of Art.

 He studied cast drawing, foliage drawing, pastel, and life study. Later, he attended the studio of Charles Palmer, an English painter from England, for three or four years to attain proficiency in oil painting and portraiture.

 . He even worked on the Krishna-Lal series, displaying a unique blend of European and Indian styles. The principal of Calcutta School of Art, E.B. Havell, was so impressed by his works that he offered him the post of Vice Principal at the same school. With this, began Abanindranath's journey of mastering several forms of arts and .

 He studied Mughal and Rajput painting styles under the guidance of Havell.

Later Career

 Abanindranath followed his own traditions which were successfully depicted through his paintings

 , he established a new national vocabulary in art and helped in regenerating the Abanindranath's contact with the outside world, beginning with various Asian artists, such as Chinese and Japanese calligraphic traditions. He learnt Japanese art under the guidance of the distinguished artist Okakura, who had come to India with Swami Vivekananda.art and aesthetic scene in India

 During his stint at the Government Art College, Abanindranath made stencil cutting and origami obligatory for students, replacing the once-proudly resting European paintings by Moghul and Rajput paintings on the school wall.

 In the year 1907, Abanindranath established 'The Bengal School' and 'Indian School of Oriental Art' to promote his-style of painting at a national level.

 Abanindranath created over 500 paintings, some of which are displayed in Rabindra Bharati Society's collection at Jorasanko in Calcutta.

Painting of abniondranath tagore(end of journey)

It shows a camel that has collapsed under its heavy load carried over long distances. The image shows Abanindranath's precise yet delicate lines, intensity of the emotive content, a combination of glowing colours and a misty appearance. These qualities make 'Journey's End', an unforgettable image

Nandlal bose

Introduction

 Nandalal Bose was an Indian painter of the Bengal school of art.

 Bose was known for his "Indian style" of painting

 He became the principal of KalaBhavan, Shanti Niketan in 1922.

 . He was influenced by the and the of Ajanta; his classic works include paintings of scenes from Indian mythologies, women, and village life.

 Today, many critics consider his paintings among India's most important modern paintings

Early life

 Nandalal was born on 3 December 1882 in a middle-class Bengali family of Kharagpur, a small town in the Monghyr district of Bihar state

 His father, Purnachandra Bose, was at that time working in the Darbhanga Estate. His mother Kshetramonidevi was a housewife with a skill in improvising toys and dolls for young Nandalal.

 . From his early days Nandalal began taking an interest in modelling images and later, decorating Puja pandals.

 In 1897, Nandalal moved to Calcutta for his high school studies in the Central Collegiate School

 After clearing his examinations in 1902, he continued his college studies at the same institution.

 In June 1903 he married Sudhiradevi, the daughter of a family friend

Career

 As a young artist, Nandalal Bose was deeply influenced by the murals of the

 He had become part of an international circle of artists and writers seeking to revive classical Indian culture

 Bose created a black on white linocut print of Gandhi walking with a staff. It became the iconic image for the non-violence movement.

 His genius and original style were recognized by famous artists and art critics like Gaganendranath Tagore, Ananda Coomaraswamy and O. C. Ganguli. These lovers of art felt that objective criticism was necessary for the development of painting and founded the Indian Society of Oriental Art.

 He became principal of the (College of Arts) at Tagore's International University Santiniketan in 1922.

 He was also famously asked by to sketch the emblems for the Government of India’s awards, including the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Shri

 Today, the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi holds 7000 of his works in its collection, including a 1930 black and white linocutof the Dandi March depicting , and a set of seven posters he later made at the request of Mahatma Gandhi for the 1938 Haripura Session of the Indian National Congress

Students

Some of his students were , , Beohar Rammanohar Sinha, Pratima Thakur, Sovon Som,Jahar Dasgupta, Sabita Thakur, and Kondapalli SeshagiriRao.

Honours and awards

 In 1908, Nandalal Bose was awarded a prize of Rs. 500 at the first art exhibition organized by it for his painting Shiva-Sati.

 In 1956, he became the second artist to be elected Fellow of the Lalit Kala Academy, India's National Academy of Art.

 In 1954, Nandalal Bose was awarded the

 . The Academy of Fine Arts in Calcutta honored Nandalal with the Silver Jubilee Medal. The Tagore Birth Centenary Medal was awarded to Nandalal Bose in 1965 by the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

Tiller of the Soil

Title Tiller of the Soil

Museum NameNational Gallery of Modern Art,

This is merely a part of the special painting painted to decorate the pavilion site of the Congress Session, Haripura in 1938. Artist Nandlal Bose painted it with the best combination of cross-transverse but rhythmic lines, tempera and wash technique of water colours on paper. In this painting, an Indian farmer has been shown tilling the field in traditional method. The artist has displayed the field and method of tilling it through three serpentine lines.

In this entire painting, the artist used black, white, brown, yellow and blue colours to make decoration, shape-structure and lines cross-transverse and thick and thin. The farmer’s body has been shown in dark-brown colour and his loin-cloth (dhoti) and turban in white colour. The plough has been shown in brown colour, the bullocks in white colour and clothes on their backs with blue colour.

In the background, the painter has used yellow even colour, whilst, by making arched shape in the foreground, the painter has given the look of whole painting as Jharokha

Kshitindranath Mazumdar

Born in 1891 in , Kshitindranath Majumdar studied till middle school in his village there, after which he joined the Government School of Art in Kolkata in 1905, where he studied under the tutelage of Abanindranath Tagore. Between 1912 and 1930, Majumdar served as an art teacher and then the principal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art in Kolkata, and later, from 1942-64, he held the same position in at Allahabad University.

In most of his drawings and paintings, Majumdar referred to mythological and religious subjects. He was greatly influenced by Sri Chaitanya’s Vaisnavism, as well as Abanindranath Tagore’s revivalist movement. A solo exhibition of Majumdar’s work was organized by J. Cousins in 1928 at the Athene Gallery in Geneva, Switzerland. His works have also been featured in several group exhibitions, including three retrospectives held in Varanasi in 1964 and 1949, and in Kolkata in 1963; a traveling exhibition in the United States, organized by the American Federation of Art, in 1924; and the 22nd Exhibition of the Societe des Peintres Orientalistes Francais, Paris, which then travelled to England, Belgium and the Netherlands.

During his lifetime, Majumdar received several awards and honours including an honorary doctoral degree from Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, and a Merit Award from the Bengal Congress Committee in 1963.

Majumdar passed away in 1975.

Honours and Awards

 Awarded honorary D. Litt, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata  1963 Felicitated with Merit Award, Bengal Congress Committee, Kolkata  1905 Awarded a Monthly Scholarship of Rs.20 in the First Year of College, Government School of Art, Kolkata

Rasa-Lila (Kshitindranath Majumdar):- In this picture, the artist has shown Krishna doing Rasa-Lila with Gopis. He has shown fully ornamented, in multi-coloured costumes, twelve gopis, in various temperaments, dancing around Krishna. The pleasant feeling on their faces is appearing spontaneously. In hair of all the gopis are stuck braids made of flowers, the braided length of hair only one gopi is hung upto his waist. All the gopis have worn anklets round their ankles. They have worn jewels even on their hands and ears and round their necks. Even Krishn’s hair has been shown as an ornamented plait of hair. On his throat is coiled a ruddle coloured cloth, and below the loin, he has worn a yellow coloured dhoti. His pleasing temperament has been presented very closely with the proper combination of green and

yellow colours. In foreground of the painting, by the proper combination of green, brown and yellow colours, has been show surface of the earth.

Radhika (M.A.R. Chughtai):- The painting ‘Radhika’ is also drawn in profile. In all his works he has painted Radhika as delicate and love lorn. Postures have also been made romantic. She is delicately holding two lotuses in both of her hands. She is wearing a light colour Ghagra, a red color Choli and a yellow colour Dupatta in typical Indian style. Her braided of black tresses is flowing down her back. Her down-cast eye is unique in exaggerated arch of eyebrow. Ornaments that Radhika is wearing are impression of Radhika being delicate, flexible and graceful. There is a lamp with a stand in the left side of the painting in Mughal manner. The lamp is decorated one with the wick in yellow and red colours, it presents a realistic image of the lamp. The light of the lamp has illuminated Radhika and has given a touch of divinity. The background is painted in a perfect blending of black, red and yellow colours creating a vivid expanse of bright colours in uniform the tonal gradation. The brightness illuminated by the burning lamp is yet another remarkable achievement of the artist. He has also highlighted minute details of the costumes worn by Radhika. Each fold of the drapery has been created with excellent success. The lotuses that she holds in each hand shows symbolic representation of a delicacy. The honey- bee sitting on the lotus of Radhika’s left hand is centrally composed in respect of the totality of the panting, which symbolizes the presence of Krishna.

Meghdoot ():- This is one of the paintings of Meghdoot series. With the excellent co-ordination of colour this painting has been delineated in artistic style .Riding on flying white cottony clouds, with special rhythmicity, in the blue sky, lovelorn Yaksha and Yakshini have been shown whit real colour-scheme. Yaksha’s curly hair, in ears earrings made of pearls, a pearl necklace on the throat, excellent body structure, smile on face, feeling of tenderness in hands and fingers, taking a lotus flower in his right hand, clothes embellished with the vivid shades of yellow colour and in them (clothes) rhythm city of various thin-coloured line, all these enchant the mind of the viewer. Yaksha sitting sticking by his back and her right hand has been shown putting on Yaksha’s chest in such a way as if two lovers are embraced. Yakshini’s hairs have been shown tied with the white flowered plait or band. On her throat is a beautiful necklace on pearls. She is covering her breast with a pink-coloured cloth and below the loin is wearing a lustrous yellow cloth on which have been shown crumps. On her legs smile lips is seen obviously. The colour of the sky has been shown blue in upper side and down near the clouds becoming light. Four white birds have been shown flying in the foreground. This picture composed with the wash and tempera technique in Bengal style together with the feelings of tenderness is an excellent co-ordination of charming and pleasing colours.