How Did the British Percive the Indians Through Art

Indian Architecture nether British Imperialism

The establishment of the British Empire profoundly influenced the architecture and culture of Bharat and led to a fusion of styles and techniques.

Learning Objectives

Summarize the changes that took place in Indian architecture during the establishment of the British Empire

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• The establishment of the British Empire in the 18th century and the subsequent westernization of Republic of india paved the way for a radical modify of creative sense of taste, and a new way of art and compages emerged.
• Equally a whole, the European advent was marked by a relative insensitivity to native art traditions; former Indian patrons of fine art became less wealthy and influential, and Western art became more than ubiquitous .
• The fusion of Indian traditions with European style at this time became evident in architectural styles; every bit with the Mughals, architecture under European colonial dominion became an emblem of power designed to endorse the occupying ability.
• The Indo-Saracenic Revival was an architectural fashion and move in the belatedly 19th century, where public and authorities buildings were often rendered on an intentionally grand calibration.

Fundamental Terms

• Company style: A hybrid Indo-European style of paintings made in India by Indian artists, many of whom worked for European patrons in the British Eastward India Company or other foreign Companies in the 18th and 19th centuries.
• aesthetic: Concerned with beauty, artistic bear upon, or appearance.
• advent: Coming; coming to; arroyo; arrival.
• ubiquitous: Being everywhere at once: omnipresent.

Bear upon of British Imperialism in India

The British arrived in India in 1615; over the centuries, they gradually overthrew the Maratha and Sikh empires and other small independent kingdoms. The establishment of the British Empire in the 18th century laid the foundation for modern Republic of india's contact with the West. Westernization paved the way for a radical change of artistic gustatory modality, and a style emerged that represented the adjustment of traditional artists to new fashions and demands.

British colonial dominion had a keen impact on Indian art. Every bit a whole, the European advent was marked by a relative insensitivity to native art traditions; former Indian patrons of art became less wealthy and influential, and Western art became more ubiquitous as the British Empire established schools of art in major cities, such as the Mumbai Fine art Guild in 1888. The Company style of paintings, for example, became common, created by Indian artists working for European patrons of the E India Visitor . Past 1858, the British authorities took over the task of administration of Bharat under the British Raj. The fusion of Indian traditions with European style at this time became evident in architectural styles. Toward the terminate of the 19th century, rising nationalism attempted a conscious revival of Indian fine art.

Architecture Nether British Imperialism

As with the Mughals, architecture under European colonial dominion became an emblem of power designed to endorse the occupying power. Numerous European countries invaded Republic of india and created architectural styles reflective of their ancestral and adopted homes. The European colonizers created architecture that symbolized their mission of conquest, defended to the land or faith. Among the key British architects of this time were Robert Fellowes Chisholm, Charles Mant, Henry Irwin, William Emerson, George Wittet, and Frederick Stevens.

The Indo-Saracenic Revival

The Indo-Saracenic Revival (likewise known as Indo- Gothic , Mughal-Gothic, Neo-Mughal, or Hindu-Gothic) was an architectural style and movement by British architects in the late 19th century. Information technology drew elements from native Indo-Islamic and Indian architecture and combined them with Gothic revival and Neo-Classical styles favored in Uk. Public and government buildings, such as clock towers, courthouses, municipal buildings, colleges, and boondocks halls, were often rendered on an intentionally k scale, reflecting and promoting a notion of an invincible British Empire. Infrastructure was equanimous of iron, steel, and poured concrete and included domes , overhanging eaves, pointed arches , vaulted roofs, pinnacles , open pavilions, and pierced open up arcading.

Municipal Corporation Building, Mumbai: This municipal building in Bombay reflects the Indo-Saracenic architecture of its fourth dimension.

Examples of Colonial Architecture

The major cities colonized during this period were Madras, Calcutta, Bombay, Delhi, Agra, Bankipore, Karachi, Nagpur, Bhopal, and Hyderabad. St. Andrew'south Kirk in Madras (now Chennai) is known for its colonial architecture. The building is circular in grade and is sided by 2 rectangular sections; the entrance is lined with 12 colonnades and two British lions, with the motto of East Republic of india Visitor engraved on them. The interior holds 16 columns , and the dome is painted bluish and decorated with gold stars.

St. Andrew's Church: St. Andrew's Church in present day Chennai is an example of British colonial compages in Republic of india.

The Victoria Memorial in Calcutta is another symbol of the British Empire, congenital as a monument in tribute to Queen Victoria's reign. The plan of the building consists of one large central function covered with a larger dome, with colonnades separating the two chambers. Each corner holds a smaller dome and is floored with marble plinth. The memorial stands on 26 acres of garden surrounded by reflective pools.

Indian Painting under British Imperialism

Under British Imperialism, painting in India took on many western characteristics throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.

Learning Objectives

Talk over the furnishings the arrival of the British Empire had on Indian painting

Key Takeaways

Primal Points

• The establishment of the British Empire in the 18th century and the subsequent westernization of India paved the way for a radical alter of creative taste, and a new style of art and painting emerged.
• In the 18th century, the merchants of the East Republic of india Company provided a big market place for native art, and a distinct genre of watercolor painting developed known as the Visitor style .
• The attitude in the mid-19th century was i of general British disregard for Indian art, followed by the establishment of British schools and the propagation of Western values in fine art teaching.
• Raja Ravi Varma was amidst the first Indian painters to utilize Western techniques to illustrate Indian themes and traditions.
• The Bengal School of Art arose in the early 20th century every bit an avant garde and nationalist movement reacting against the Western academic art styles; instead, information technology promoted a return to paintings such every bit the Mughal miniatures .

Key Terms

• Company manner: A hybrid Indo-European style of paintings made in Bharat by Indian artists, many of whom worked for European patrons in the British East Bharat Visitor or other strange Companies in the 18th and 19th centuries.
• Eastward India Company: An English and later British joint-stock company, which was formed to pursue trade with the East Indies but ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and Qing Mainland china.

Overview: British Imperialism and Art

British colonial rule had a corking impact on Indian art. Old patrons of art became less wealthy and influential, and Western art more ubiquitous as the British Empire established schools of art in major cities, such as the Mumbai Fine art Society in 1888. The Company style of paintings became common, created past Indian artists working for European patrons of the East Bharat Company. The style was mainly Romanticized, with watercolor the primary medium used to convey soft textures and tones . By 1858, the British regime took over the task of assistants of Republic of india nether the British Raj, and the fusion of Indian traditions with European fashion at this time is evident in a nifty bargain of the artwork from this period.

Painting Nether British Imperialism

The Company Style

In the 18th century, oil and easel painting brought many European artists to India in search of fame and fortune, including Thomas and William Daniel, Joshua Reynolds, George Chinnery, and others. The merchants of the East India Company provided a large market for native art in the 18th century, and a distinct genre of watercolor painting developed that depicted scenes of everyday life, regalia of princely courts, and Indian festivities and rituals . Referred to as the Company style or Patna style, this style of painting flourished at showtime in Murshidabad and spread to other cities of British India.

The Establishment of Art Schools

While the 18th century saw moderate British manifestations of Indian art, monuments, literature, and culture , the attitude in the mid-19th century shifted to one of disregard for Indian art. To propagate Western values in art instruction along with the colonial agenda, the British established art schools in Calcutta and Madras in 1854 and in Mumbai in 1857. After 1857, John Griffith and John Lockwood Kipling came out to Republic of india together and headed the Sir JJ School of Art. Griffith was considered one of the finest Victorian painters to come to India, and Kipling went on to head the Mayo Schoolhouse of Arts in 1878.

Raja Ravi Varma

Raja Ravi Varma (1848–1906) was a remarkable self-taught Indian painter from the princely state of Travancore. He is considered the first of the modernists, and he advocated for the apply of Western techniques to develop a new artful in the subjective interpretation of Indian civilization. His work was considered to be amid the all-time examples of the fusion of Indian traditions with the techniques of European academic art, and it came to play an important office in the development of the Indian national consciousness.

Shakuntal by Ravi Varma: Ravi Varma's work, such as this painting, used Western limerick, perspective, and realism to illustrate Indian themes.

The Bengal School

Every bit more artists began using Western ideas of composition , perspective , and realism to illustrate Indian themes, others rebelled confronting these styles. The Bengal School of Art, commonly referred to every bit the Bengal School, arose in the early 20th century as an avant garde and nationalist movement reacting against the Western bookish art styles previously promoted in India. Also known every bit "Indian style of painting" in its early days, it was led by Abanindranath Tagore (1871–1951) and supported past British art teacher E. B. Havell. Following the influence of Indian spiritual ideas in the West, Havell attempted to reform the teaching methods at the Calcutta School of Art past encouraging students to imitate Mughal miniatures. This caused controversy among some who considered it to exist a retrogressive motility; yet, Havell and Tagore believed the technique to be expressive of Bharat'south distinct spiritual qualities, as opposed to the "materialism" of the West.

The best known painting past Tagore is Republic of india Mata ("Female parent Bharat"), depicting a young woman with four artillery in the manner of Hindu deities , belongings objects symbolic of India'south national aspirations. Other painters and artists of the Bengal school included Gaganendranath Tagore, Asit Kumar Haldar, M.A.R Chughtai, Sunayani Devi, Kshitindranath Majumdar, Nandalal Bose, Kalipada Ghoshal, Sughra Rababi, and Sudhir Khastgir. The Bengal school somewhen paved the way for future modernist movements, and its influence declined in the 1920s.

Bharat Mata, a painting by Abanindranath Tagore: India Mata by Abanindranath Tagore (1871–1951), a nephew of the poet Rabindranath Tagore and a pioneer of the motion that led to the Bengal Schoolhouse.

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Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-arthistory/chapter/india-under-british-imperialism/

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