Who among the following mastered the Western art of oil painting and realistic life study, but painted themes from Indian mythology?
Who among the following mastered the Western art of oil painting and realistic life study, but painted themes from Indian mythology? Correct Answer Raja Ravi Varma
The correct answer is option 3, i.e. Raja Ravi Varma.
- Raja Ravi Varma
- He belonged to the family of the Maharajas of Travancore in Kerala, and was addressed as Raja and was one of the first artists who tried to create a style that was both modern and national.
- He mastered the Western art of oil painting and realistic life study, but painted themes from Indian mythology and dramatised on canvas, scene after scene from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, drawing on the theatrical performances of mythological stories that he witnessed during his tour of the Bombay Presidency.
- From the 1880s, Ravi Varma’s mythological paintings became the rage among Indian princes and art collectors, who filled their palace galleries with his works.
- Abanindranath Tagore
- A nephew of Rabindranath Tagore he was one of the founders of Indian Society of Oriental Art and led the rise of Bengal School.
- They 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 & 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.
- So they broke away from the convention of oil painting and the realistic style, and turned for inspiration to medieval Indian traditions of miniature painting and the ancient art of mural painting in the Ajanta caves.
- Nandalal Bose
- He was a student of Abanindranath Tagore and both did not simply follow an earlier style but modified it and made it their own.
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Feb 20, 2025