The Changing World of Visual Arts

Q1. Fill in the blanks.

                          i.        The art form which observed carefully and tried to capture exactly what the eye saw is called portraiture.

                         ii.        The style of painting which showed Indian landscape as a quaint, unexplored land is called picturesque.

                        iii.        Paintings which showed the social lives of Europeans in India are called Kalighat painting.

                        iv.        Paintings which depicted scenes from British imperial history and their victories are called history painting.

Q2. Point out which of the following were brought in with British art: (a) oil painting (b) miniatures (c) life-size portrait painting (d) use of perspective (e) mural art

Ans. (a) oil painting (c) life-size portrait painting and (d) use of perspective

Q3. Name the title of the book written by kakuzo. What was it famous for?

Ans. In 1904, Okakura Kakuzo published a book in Japan called The Ideals of the East. This book is famous for its opening lines: “Asia is one.”

Q4. What were the three categories of Imperial Art?
Or
How many categories of imperial arts were there?

Ans. The Imperial Art was prevalent in India during the British colonial rule can be classified into three categories: - Landscape Painting, Portrait Painting and History Painting.

Q5. Define Gothic with example.

Ans. The pointed arches in the buildings and the elongated structures are typical of a style known as Gothic. The new buildings that came up in the mid-nineteenth century in Bombay were mostly in this style.

Q6. How did the Patuas and Kumhars develop the new form of Indian Art?

Ans.

                        i.        Kalighat painters began to use shading to give a rounded effect, to make the images look 3- dimensional.

                       ii.        Painters starting using bold, non-realistic style, to show figures emerge large and powerful, with a minimum of lines, detail and colors.

                      iii.        Though the images were not realistic and lifelike.

Q7. Compare the painting styles of Raja Ravi Varma and Abanindranath Tagore.
Or
Describe the major difference between styles of Raja Ravi Varma and Abanindranath Tagore.

Ans. Abanindranath Tagore rejected the art of Ravi Varma as imitative and westernised, and declared that such a style was unsuitable for depicting the nation’s ancient myths and legends. He felt that a genuine Indian style of painting had to draw inspiration from non-Western art traditions, and try to capture the spiritual essence of the East.

Q8. Describe the images produced by “Calcutta art studio”?

Ans. One of the most successful of these presses that were set up in late-nineteenth-century Calcutta was the Calcutta Art Studio. It produced lifelike images of eminent Bengali personalities as well as mythological pictures. But these mythological pictures were realistic. The figures were located in picturesque landscape settings, with mountains, lakes, rivers and forests.

Q9. Write a short note on kalighat paintings?

Ans. Kalighat painting originated in the 19th century Bengal, in the vicinity of Kalighat temple of Kolkata. The paintings developed as a distinct school of Indian painting. The paintings depicted Hindu gods, goddesses, and other mythological characters. The styles of these paintings were characterized by broad sweeping brush lines, bold colours and simple forms.

Q10. In what ways did the Daniell brothers contrast the image of traditional India with colonial India?

Ans. Daniells contrast the image of traditional India with that of life under British rule. In one of his paintings he represented the traditional life of India as pre-modern, changeless and motionless, typified by faqirs, cows, and boats sailing on the river. In other painting he represented the modernising influence of British rule, by emphasising a picture of dramatic change.

Q11. In what way did the British history paintings in India reflect the attitudes of imperial conquerors?

Ans. The British history paintings once again celebrated the British: their power, their victories and supremacy. The painting dramatises the event and glorifies the British triumph. Imperial history paintings sought to create a public memory of imperial triumphs. Victories had to be remembered, implanted in the memory of people, both in India and Britain. Only then could the British appear invincible and all-powerful.