Latest / The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History / The Bengal School of Art: Abanindranath Tagore and the Swadeshi Movement
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- Lucas: We've talked a lot about Bengal's political and economic history — the battles, the famines, the textile trade. But I wanted to zoom in on something quieter that happened around the same time as the Swadeshi movement, something that changed how Indians saw themselves visually. Luna: You mean the art scene? Lucas: Exactly. In the early 1900s, a young painter named Abanindranath Tagore — Rabindranath's nephew — essentially founded what's called the Bengal School of Art. And it wasn't just about style; it was a deliberate rejection of the British academic painting that had dominated Indian art for decades. Luna: So he was reacting against the way Indians were being painted? Lucas: Partly. Under the Raj, the official art schools — like the Government College of Art in Calcutta — taught a Victorian realist style. Students copied plaster casts of Greek statues and painted in oils with chiaroscuro. The message was that Indian traditions were inferior. Abanindranath, who had actually trained in that Western style, began to turn away from it in the early 1900s. He started looking at Mughal miniatures, at the Ajanta cave paintings, and at Japanese brush techniques. Luna: He was influenced by Japanese art too? Lucas: Very much. He met a Japanese art critic named Kakuzo Okakura, who was visiting Calcutta. Okakura introduced him to the Japanese wash technique — thin, translucent watercolors on silk or paper, with a lot of empty space. Abanindranath combined that with the fine line work of Mughal painting and the spiritual themes from Indian mythology. The result was something completely new. Luna: And this became the Bengal School? Lucas: Yes, but it didn't start as a school in the institutional sense. It was really a loose group of artists who gathered around Abanindranath at the Government College of Art, where he taught. The principal there, E.B. Havell, was an Englishman who actively supported this revival of Indian styles. He and Abanindranath together reformed the curriculum. But the most famous work from this period is Abanindranath's painting 'Bharat Mata' from 1905. Luna: I think I've seen it — it's a woman in a saffron sari, right? She's holding different objects. Lucas: That's the one. She's depicted as a gentle, ascetic figure — not a warrior goddess. She holds a book, sheaves of rice, a rosary, and a white cloth. Each object symbolizes something: learning, sustenance, spirituality, and purity. It was painted right at the height of the Swadeshi movement, and it became an instant icon. Suddenly, you had a visual representation of the motherland that wasn't based on European allegories like Britannia. Luna: It must have been powerful to see India personified that way. Lucas: It was. But it also drew criticism. British art critics, especially a man named Percy Brown who was the principal of the Government College of Art in Calcutta later, dismissed the Bengal School as derivative of Japanese art and not truly Indian. They called it sentimental and technically weak. There was a real cultural battle going on about who got to define Indian art. Luna: So the British critics wanted Indian artists to keep painting in the Western style? Lucas: Exactly. They saw the Bengal School as a step backward. But Abanindranath's students, like Nandalal Bose, went on to become giants of Indian art in their own right. Nandalal Bose later designed the illustrations for the Indian Constitution and taught at Santiniketan. The Bengal School influenced artists across the country, even though by the 1920s and 30s it was already being challenged by modernist movements. Luna: So it wasn't a long-lasting school, but it had a big impact? Lucas: That's right. By the 1940s, the Bengal School was seen as too romantic and nationalistic by a new generation of artists who wanted to engage with international modernism. But its legacy is enormous — it gave Indian art a sense of self-respect and a connection to its own past. It also showed that art could be a form of resistance, even without being overtly political. Luna: And the paintings are still beautiful, I think. Lucas: Absolutely. They're in the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata, the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi. If you ever get a chance to see 'Bharat Mata' in person, it's small — only about 26 by 18 inches — but it has a quiet intensity. Luna: You know, it's interesting — these episodes are a bit like that. Small, focused, but they stick with you. Lucas: I'm glad they do. And speaking of sticking with things — if you've been getting something out of these conversations, we keep the show going listener support. It's ad-free, no sponsorship, just people who care about history. A couple of dollars a month genuinely makes a difference — it's at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it's a small gesture that really helps us keep digging into these stories. Lucas: Anyway, back to the art. One of the lesser-known figures in the Bengal School was Abanindranath's younger brother, Gaganendranath Tagore. He was more experimental — he dabbled in cubism and caricature. He did a series of satirical drawings about the Bengali elite that are absolutely biting. Luna: So the Tagore family was really an artistic powerhouse. Lucas: They were. Rabindranath himself started drawing late in life — he was nearly sixty — and produced thousands of fantastical, surreal sketches. But Abanindranath and Gaganendranath were the professional painters. Their cousin, Satyendra Nath Tagore, was also an artist. It's remarkable how much creativity came out of that one family in Jorasanko. Luna: And the Bengal School — is it still taught today? Lucas: It is, but as a historical movement. Most art history courses in India cover it as the first major modern Indian art movement. The Government College of Art in Kolkata still exists, and the Bengal School's influence is visible in the work of many contemporary Indian artists who blend traditional techniques with modern themes. But the school itself faded after the 1930s, partly because its leading figures aged and partly because new movements like the Progressive Artists' Group emerged. Luna: So it was a moment, not a permanent school. Lucas: Exactly. A moment that changed the direction of Indian art. And it's a reminder that history isn't just battles and treaties — it's also the images a culture creates of itself. When you look at 'Bharat Mata', you're seeing the birth of a modern Indian visual identity.