10. The Changing World of Visual Arts

Q1. Fill in the blanks:

(a) The art form which observed carefully and tried to capture exactly what the eye saw is called _________.

(b) The style of painting which showed Indian landscape as a quaint, unexplored land is called _________.

(c) Paintings which showed the social lives of Europeans in India are called _________.

(d) Paintings which depicted scenes from British imperial history and their victories are called _________.

Ans:- (a) portrait (b) picturesque (c) engravings (d) 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

Q3. Describe in your own words one painting from this chapter which suggests that British were more powerful than Indians. How does the artist depict this?

Ans:- The painting (NCERT in text question activity-1,fig .8)is painted by Rober kerr porter. In this painting, the painter has shown the storming of seringapatam, the capital of tipu sultan by the british troops.

Tipu sultan of Mysore was one of the most powerful enemies of the british. He was  finally defeated in 1799 at the famous battle of Seringapatam. In the picture, the british troops are shown storming the fort from all sides,cutting Tipu. the painting dramatizes the event and at the same time glorifies the british  victory  more powerful then Indians .

Q4. Why did the Scroll Painters and potters come to Kalighat? Why did they begin to paint new  themes?

Ans:-

(i) The scroll painter and potters kaligaht and settled there because this was a time when the city was expanding as a commercial and administrative centre

(ii) Colonial offices were come up, new building and roads were being constructed markets were being set up. The city appeared as a place of opportunity where people could came to make a new living.

(iii) They began to print new thing because values, tastes, social norms and customs were underground fast changes after the 1840.

(iv) They responded quickly to the world around and produced painting on the social and political themes.

Q5. Why can we think of Raja Ravi Verma’s paintings as national?

Ans:- We can think Raja Ravi Verma’s painting as national because he has depicted Indian mythology. Scenes from Ramayana and Mahabharata and other mythological stories are prominent in his painting.

Q6. In what way did the British history paintings in India reflect the attitudes of imperial conquerors?

Ans:- The British History paintings celebrated the British and their power and victories. Frances Hayman, In 1762 produced a History painting and placed on public display in the Vauxhall gardens in London the British defeated Sirajjudaulah in the famous battle of plassy by Hayman in a way that made it clear that the British were more powerful then the Indians.

Q7. Why do you think some artists wanted to developed national style of art?

Ans:- Some artist wanted to develop a national style of art because in their views the art of Ravi Verma was imitative and westernised It was unsuitable for depicting the nation’s ancient myths and legends. Therefore, they felt the need for a genuine Indian style of painting to draw inspiration from  non-western art traditional. In this way they made an attempt to capture the real spiritual essence of the east.

Q8. Why did some artist produce cheap popular paints? What influence would such paints have had on the minds of people who looked at them?

Ans:- Some artist produced cheap popular paint so that even the poor could buy them. Such paint made mixed influences on minds of those who saw them. For some, these prints were sentimental while for the others, spiritualism could not be seen as the central feature of the Indian culture. They felt that artists had to explore real life instead of illustrating ancient books. They must look for inspiration for living folk art and tribal designs rather than ancient art forms. In the midst of such debates new movements of art grew and styles of art changed subsequently.

This Chapter is under construction.