Academic literature on the topic 'Bengal Painting'

Kalighat’s paintings originated in West Bengal, India in the 19th century, near Kalighat Kali Temple, in Calcutta, India, and and from being souvenir pieces taken by visitors to the Kali Temple, the paintings developed over a period of time as a distinct Indian form of painting and art. The Kalighat Paintings developed to depict a range of themes ranging from mythological characters to depictions of the social scene. The paintings served as a kind of mirror of the society in which they worked. Under the influence of an increasingly growing European society, they underwent a transformation. They were able to rapidly adapt the interests of then popular interest and reflect different contemporary themes., and to represent different contemporary themes. The charm of the Kalighat paintings lies in the fact that they captured the essence of everyday life and have inspired contemporary artists like the late Jamini Roy even to this day. Experts find the brushwork on these paintings to be precise, flawless, elegant and one of India’s smoothest art types.

Undoubtedly during the era of colossal devastation and bloodbath occurred due to the World War II , famine , communal riots , Partition of India and refugee crisis emerged the Progressive Cultural Movement of 1940s that made its imprint on intellectual and cultural life of Bengal through organizations like the All Indian Progressive Writers’ Association ( 1936), the Anti- Fascist Writers’ and Artists’ Association (1942 ), Association of friends of the Soviet Countrymen ( 1941), the I.P.T.A ( 1943) and the Youth Cultural Institute ( 1940) etc. Jaynul Abedin , Ramkinkar , Chittaprashad , Gobardhan Aash and Ramkinkar were some of the most eminent artists of that particular historical period and the Calcutta Group based artists such as Nirad Majumdar , Suvo Thakur , Gopal Ghosh , Prankrishna Pal , Paritosh Sen and Pradosh Dasgupta tried their level best to express trauma and triumph of contemporary population of Bengal and especially struggle for survival of famine- stricken common people was depicted through famous paintings of Chittaprashad and Jaynul Abedin . In world of Somnath Hore and Debabrata Mukhopadhyay’s art reflecting social realism one can observe fathomless pain of poverty- stricken people and rebellious spirit against all kinds of suppression and oppression. In this article I tried my best to express contribution of some renowned artists of the Marxist Cultural Movement of Bengal who upheld harsh reality of stratified society through their painting and sculpture.

Throughout the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, British East India Company officials, based in the Indian subcontinent, amassed huge collections of natural history images. One of the largest collections, consisting of many thousands of individual paintings commissioned mainly from Indian artists between 1790 and 1823, was formed by Major-General Thomas Hardwicke. Some of these later formed the basis of John Edward Gray’s Illustrations of Indian zoology, but the vast majority remained unpublished. This paper focuses on one of these images, a detailed watercolour of the red panda ( Ailurus fulgens), painted to accompany a scientific description of the species which Hardwicke sent from Bengal to the Linnean Society of London in 1820. The painting pre-dates Frédéric Cuvier’s description of the animal by four years, and is almost certainly the first image of the red panda to have arrived in Europe. This paper sets the painting in the context of Hardwicke’s career as a naturalist and private patron of Indian artists, highlighting both his role as an early investigator of Indian zoology and the importance of “Company Art” in the accrual of scientific information.

In early years during the twentieth century, there was a move towards seeking cultural roots, among artists in Bengal, guided by Abanindranath Tagore. Jamini Roy was one of them who made the pioneering efforts to foster self-respect for the indigenous creative output and greatly influenced the perspective towards art in those times.Jamini Roy received his art education through Western art perceptions but as opposed to the aristocratic perspective of the Bengal Art School, Jamini Roy drew inspiration from folk style traditions to create a peculiar indigenous style of his own. He found a quality of freshness, directness and robustness in the artistic spirit that still survives in the scrolls, Kalighat paintings, Puja images and the hordes of artifacts created for rituals – all synthesized with the visual effects of Kanthas and Alpanas. Strong beauty of line work, powerful colour scheming and flawless motifs characterized his impeccable style.Roy, in fact, was trend setter as he had projected the popular style amongst artists to adopt folk style and folk traits to recondition the art works in 1930s. His style of painting is still relevant in today’s Contemporary Art scenario. The images, motifs, symbols, and idioms used by Jamini Roy inspired a number of Indian artists of present times.

Engish : In ancient Indian texts, the rules related to painting are mentioned in detail, in which texts of poetry, drama, epic, Puranas, Upanishads and various disciplines describe their popularity in ancient tradition and cultural methods of Indian painting and public opinion. Apart from this, there are some texts in which free and comprehensive painting has been explained in detail. For example, there are 269 chapters in this book composed by Vishnudharmottara Purana Markandeya. Under which, in the third section, Sanskrit subjects are especially important for the fine arts. In which chapters 1 to 118 are told about art. In this book, nine chapters from 35 to 43 are of Chitrasutra. It is very popular and most notable and well-known. In which detailed information related to the painting is given, which is not found in any other book before it.In the same way, in the epic, Ramayana, Mahabharata, there is a description of paintings on chitrashalas, palaces, chariots and the great dramatist Bhasa has described the paintings in his three plays Swapnavasavadattam, Pratigya Yogandharayana and Dutavakya. Apart from this, painting has also been mentioned in texts like Abhilachirtartha Chintamani, Mansar, Samranga Sutradhar.It is only through these ancient Indian texts that the painter has been able to study the artifacts microscopically. That is, following the rules related to the picture in these texts can be seen in miniature paintings of Ajanta, Mughal, Rajasthan. By following these rules, painters have been able to express their artistry by imbibing expressions like harmony, balance and cooperation, effectiveness in their artworks. The example of which can be seen in the artwork made by Bengal school and artists of Calcutta. Hindi : प्राचीन भारतीय ग्रन्थों में चित्रकला से सम्बन्धित नियमों का उल्लेख विस्तृत रूप से मिलता है जिसमें काव्य, नाटक, महाकाव्य, पुराण, उपनिषद्‌ व विभिन्न विषयों के ग्रन्थों द्वारा भारतीय चित्र लेखन की प्राचीन परम्परा व सांस्कृतिक विधियों एवं जनमानस में उनकी लोकप्रियता का वर्णन मिलता है। इसके अतिरिक्त कुछ ऐसे ग्रन्थ भी हैं, जिनमें स्वतन्त्र व व्यापक रूप से चित्रकला की व्याख्या विस्तार रूप से की गयी है। उदाहरण स्वरूप विष्णुधर्मोत्तर पुराण मार्कण्डेय द्वारा रचित इस ग्रन्थ में 269 अध्याय हैं। जिसके अन्तर्गत तीसरे खण्ड में संस्कृत विषयों में विशेषकर ललित कलाओं के लिये सर्वाधिक महत्वपूर्ण हैं। जिसमें अध्याय 1 से लेकर 118 तक कला के बारे में बताया गया है। इसी ग्रन्थ में 35 से 43 तक नौ अध्याय चित्रसूत्र के हैं। यह बहुत चर्चित व सर्वाधिक उल्लेखनीय एवं बहुचर्चित हैं। जिसमें चित्रकला से सम्बन्धित विस्तृत जानकारी दी गयी है, जो इससे पहले अन्य किसी ग्रन्थ में नहीं मिलती। इसी तरह से महाकाव्य, रामायण, महाभारत में चित्रशालाओं, महलों, रथों पर चित्रकारी का वर्णन मिलता है व महान नाटकार भास ने अपने तीन नाटकों स्वप्नवासवदत्तम्‌, प्रतिज्ञा योगंधरायण तथा दूतवाक्य में चित्रों के बारे में बताया है। इसके अलावा अभिलषितार्थ चिन्तामणि, मानसार, समरांगण सूत्रधार जैसे ग्रन्थों में भी चित्रकला का उल्लेख किया गया है। इन प्राचीन भारतीय ग्रन्थों के माध्यम से ही आज चित्रकार कलाकृतियों का अध्ययन सूक्ष्मरूप से करने में सक्षम हो सका है। अर्थात्‌ इन ग्रन्थों में चित्र से सम्बन्धित नियमों का पालन अजन्ता, मुगल, राजस्थान के लघु चित्रों में देखा जा सकता है। इन नियमों का पालन करते हुये ही चित्रकार अपनी कलाकृतियों में सामंजस्य, सन्तुलन व सहयोग, प्रभाविता जैसे भावों को आत्मसात करते हुये अपनी कलाकृति को अभिव्यक्त कर पाने में समर्थ हो सके हैं। जिसका उदाहरण बंगाल स्कूल व कलकत्ता के कलाकारों द्वारा बनायी कलाकृतियों में देखा जा सकता है।

Indian modern art is considered to have started from the mid-19th century. When the English ruler decided to set up art colleges in Madras, Calcutta, Mumbai, Lahore and Lucknow to train Indian artists in European art. These art colleges hired English artists who painted using natural English method. During this time, Japanese artists Hidisa and Taikan came to Calcutta who trained the Wash system first in India to Avindranath Thakur and this is how the Wash system was born in India. When it comes to the Indian wash system, first comes the atmosphere of the Bengal School, by which trained artists were established in all the important art centers of the country and an atmosphere of wash painting was created all over the country. In such a situation, after the Bengal School, Lucknow has emerged as the second center for wash depictions. Here, another developed form of wash came out, where opaque or opaque colors were used in Bengal, whereas in Lucknow it was avoided. The technique of wash painting was originally introduced by Avindnath Thakur in Calcutta. Some of his subjects were appointed in Lucknow Arts and Crafts College, thus the technique was further developed in Lucknow and later all these artists worked in this medium and developed it in which Arpit Kumar Haldar, Abdul Rahman Chughtai, LM Sen and Badrinath Artists like Arya kept experimenting with watercolor in the wash method. भारतीय आधुनिक कला की प्रारंभ 19वीं सदी के मध्य से मानी जाती है। जब अंग्रेजी शासक ने यूरोपियन कला में भारतीय कलाकारों को प्रशिक्षित करने के लिए मद्रास, कलकत्ता, मुंबई, लाहौर व लखनऊ में कला महाविद्यालय स्थापति करने का निर्णय लिया। इन कला महाविद्यालयों ने स्वाभाविक अंग्रेजी पद्धति से चित्रण करने वाले अंग्रेजी कलाकारों की नियुक्ति हुई। इसी दौरान जापान के कलाकार हिदिसा और ताईकान कलकत्ता आए जिन्होंने वाॅश पद्धति का प्रषिक्षण भारत में सर्वप्रथम अविन्द्रनाथ ठाकुर को दिया और इसी प्रकार भारत में वाॅश पद्धति का जन्म हुआ। जब भारतीय वाॅश पद्धति की बात आती है तो सबसे पहले बंगाल स्कूल का एक ऐसा वातावरण समाने आता है जिससे प्रशिक्षित होकर कलाकार देश के सभी महत्वपूर्ण कला केन्द्रों में स्थापित हुए और वाॅश चित्रण का एक वातावरण पूरे देश में सृजित हुआ। ऐसे में बंगाल स्कूल के बाद लखनऊ वाॅश चित्रण के लिए दूसरे केन्द्र के रुप में उभरा। यहां पर वाॅश का दूसरा विकसित रुप सामने आए जहां बंगाल में अपारदर्शी या अल्पदर्शी रंगों का प्रयोग हुआ वहीं लखनऊ में इससे बचा गया। वाॅश चित्रकला की तकनीक प्रारंभ मूलतः अविन्दनाथ ठाकुर ने कलकत्ता में किया था। उनके कुछ विषय लखनऊ कला एवं शिल्प महाविद्यालय में नियुक्ति हुए इस प्रकार वह तकनीक लखनऊ में और विकसित हुई तथा बाद में इन सारे कलाकारों ने इस माध्यम में काम करते हुए इसका विकास किया जिसमें आर्पित कुमार हालदार, अब्दूल रहमान चुगताई, एल0 एम0 सेन व बद्रीनाथ आर्य जैसे कलाकारों ने जलरंग से वाॅश पद्धति में प्रयोग करते रहे।

Sri Lanka is a country with many artistic aspects. There are many other forms of art, like painting, dance, drama, palm leaf art, mask art, etc. Mask art has been regarded as a traditional art form by people from ancient times to the present. The arts generally bring joy and freshness to the mind. They are energetic. It is important to note that the art form is found in many places. Masks are found in two forms, i.e., art and craft. Art forms have new forms and crafts are the art of recreating the new forms created by the craft without changing the form. In addition, they are passionately involved in mask making as a profession and an art. More mask artists are found in the Ambalangoda area. In Ambalangoda, masks are found as an additional commodity for sale in the shops found on roadsides. It has been used by people in a variety of cases until now. The mask is also made by the artists as a decorative object. Many different forms are also created in the form of calmness, fear, and humor. They are also created to suit the needs of their people and are found with a variety of artistic features. The trees that belong to the mask art are selected and carved with the tools required for the engraving. They are also painted in an eye-catching way to look at. Certain types of paint are used. The use of colour plays an important role in mask art. Apart from color, it is a form of art that includes not only colour but also quantitative dimensions, organization, three-dimensionality, two-dimensionality, perfectionism, aesthetics, etc. The mask is created by the artists based on the above-mentioned details. This art form is found not only in Sri Lanka but also in many other countries. It is found in many places, like the State of Kerala, West Bengal, and India. It is also found in Indonesia. Mask art is also found in museums as an exhibit.

Patachitra is a form of folk painting, popular mainly in the Indian states of West Bengal and Odisha. It is done on cloth by the natural pigments and homemade adhesives. Patachitra is considered as one of the most important ethnic traditions of India. The simplicity and the highly stylized coordination of bold lines and bright colours of Patachitra and its narrative approach of storytelling may attract any of the artists and art researchers. It was considered as a dying tradition. In the recent years, by the support of several government and social organizations, the art has revived. Through their effective initiatives the new generation of the Patuas (Who creates Patachitras) are getting new platform to be recognized for their hereditary skill and new marketplace to sell their work. Nayagram is a village of the Indian state of West Bengal. All the residents of Nayagram are Patuas. This place is getting popularity for the artistic talent of its people, by the support of the government and social organizations. This research paper is trying to identify the means of development for this kind of ethnic art and artists by studding Nayagram as a model. It is mainly a field work based study to know the on ground reality. Shyamsudar Chitrakar, a veteran Patua of Nayagram was interviewed to learn the real history of Nayagram. On the other hand the young talented woman Patua, Sonia Chitrakar was interviewed to know how she is approaching towards the future betterment of this traditional art form and the and her struggle as a woman belonging from such a marginal community. After compiling their inputs with the other information about the village from both the primary and literary sources the research finds the first four families of Patuas of Nayagram who were given land to live by Gunadhar Bishal, a wealthy farmer who was a lover of art as well. Gradually their relatives (Patuas) also started to come to live at Nayagram. Thus the place was identified by the government and social workers as the place of Patuas and the art of Patachitra. This Paper deliberates the initiatives to identify the challenges and prescribes probable solutions to develop other dying ethnic traditions in the world after studding Nayagram as a model of development. Статья посвящена патачитре — виду народной живописи, популярной, в основном, в индийских штатах Западная Бенгалия и Одиша. Она выполняется на ткани с помощью натуральных пигментов и самодельных клеев. Патачитра считается одной из важнейших этнических традиций Индии. Простота, тонкая стилизация, сочетание смелых линий и ярких цветов патачитры, а также ее повествовательность привлекают многих художников и исследователей искусства. Патачитра считалась умирающей традицией, но в последние годы при поддержке ряда государственных и общественных организаций это искусство возродилось, а новое поколение художников-патуа получило признание своих традиционных ремесел и новые рынки для продажи своих работ. В данной работе делается попытка определить пути развития этого вида этнического искусства на примере деревни Наяграм в Западной Бенгалии, жителями которой являются патуа. Статья основана на полевых исследованиях и экспертных интервью с жителями деревни. Обсуждаются инициативы по выявлению имеющихся проблем и предлагаются возможные решения для развития других исчезающих этнических традиций в мире.

Towards a peripatetic practice: negotiating journey through painting investigates painting as a way of comprehending lived experience of travel. The project develops from curiosity about journeys and their potential for bringing the artist into encounters with the world, and proximate to its issues and concerns. Aims of the project focused on peripatetic practice as a means of redirecting a personal experience of rootlessness towards connecting with others, and considering and communicating the complexity of cross-cultural experience through painting. Objectives as such were to investigate through practice the function and form of peripatetic painting, and to document this through film and writing. The study acknowledges travel as an ancient way of knowing the world and takes inspiration from the paradigm of the nomadic storyteller as exemplified in the Bengali tradition of Patuya Sangit (scroll performance). With a sense of the capacity for painting to provide spaces of connection and empathy, the study draws on the writing of John Berger and Suzi Gablik, exploring a confluence of ideas about the evolving social role of the artist. Key influences are historic and contemporary peripatetic creative practices, which include the writer Freya Stark, the colonial painter William Simpson, and the artists Phil Smith and John Wolseley. The project also incorporates methodological approaches which borrow from anthropology, situating the artist as observer, participant, and ultimately, agent. Practice in this context is immersive, and takes on social, interactive dimensions for which making paintings becomes a means of knowing and questioning the nature of cross-cultural experience. Explorations took the form of increasingly immersive journeys in Australia, India and Pakistan and a series of paintings utilising extended scroll formats with additional outcomes of documentary films. As the key research spaces for practice-led research, the scroll paintings employ pencil, collage, watercolour and oil, and a metaphoric fusion of styles and techniques of painting and drawing, notably Persian miniature and life portraiture as a means of accounting for and sharing the abiding experiences and encounters yielded through travel.

Art is an expression of the pure soul of humans that is not limited by physical. Therefore, everyone can express their art in various forms of art acts such as dancing, singing, painting, and others. This occurs to the Kolok (mute) community in Bengkala village where they express their artistic spirit by dancing. The Kolok community in this village dances Janger Kolok Dance, Baris Bebek Bingar Bengkala (Bebila) Dance or Baris Bebila Dance, and Jalak Anguci Starling Dance. This dance illustrates the joy and excitement of the mute people in Bengkala village who are able to surpass their limitations into an opportunity to fill themselves up. The creation of this dance is motivated by esthetic, economic and religious reasons. Structurally, all Kolok dances in Bengkala follow the same pattern of general dance but there are adjustments to the conditions of the dancers. This dance has the meaning of struggle, discipline, hard work, cooperation, entertainment based on excitement through the limitations of those who are deaf Kolok.