Pre-Bengal School art shows the meeting of Western and Indian traditions

THE INDIAN EXPRESS
By Vandana Kalra

Young Sri Chaitanya in front of Guru.

While the Mughals were patrons of the arts in India, in the 19th century as the strength of the empire declined, artists began looking for outward benefaction. The European traders lent support, not without Western influence though — the masters, in fact, even felt it important to impart formal training, leading to the establishment of the Calcutta School of Art in 1854. One of its famous alumni, Annadaprasad Bagchi was to make realistic paintings more accessible to the masses through the institution of the Calcutta Art Studio, where along with oils and watercolors the artists also produced litho prints. “Their portfolio had patriotic paintings, besides mythological or religious paintings. [More]