1. Overview of Indian Art
Introduction
Heritage of any nation is best represented by its culture, beliefs and traditions. A
subset of these that has given India, a profound identity for India is Art. Art forms in
India exist since time immemorial. Over the past century, Indian Art has undergone
through vast and diverse change in their forms that exist in the present. For instance,
the themes chosen by the traditional painters were societal. But later with the
emergence of modernists followed by the contemporaries, the facets of Indian
painting were changed radically.
India nestles the largest collections of various arts like music, theatre, dance, rites,
performing arts, scriptures, paintings, folk traditions, and writings. These art forms
are called as the “Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH)” of humankind.
The Ministry of Culture, Government of India has put in place a number of schemes
and projects in order to preserve these invaluable art forms. The ministry also avails
financial support to those people or organizations who are involved in performing
such literary and visual arts. Here’s a brief overview of the history and practices of
Indian arts. This dates back to the 1900s which has undergone various
transformations that contributed to the development of such art forms.
India is a vast country so is its culture and is one of the ancient civilizations in the
world. Its antiquity depicts the richness of the civilization and is in line with the
massiveness of its geographic scope. All these factors have contributed to the
diverse, rich and multiple art forms of India.
Diversity is well represented in the art works selected to be displayed in the Museum
of Sacred Art collection. The narratives of the epic Mahabharata, Ramayana, and Sri
mat BHagavatham, the Harivamsa etc., among others in the Indian mythology, have
found its place in the Indian Art forms. Stories of Shri Krishna are depicted in Indian
art forms as a prankster, God-child, a divine hero, a model lover, a celestial hero, and
the supremo. Indian museums that exhibits the art forms of India contains art works
containing these themes from Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat ,
Rajasthan etc., and also from the neighboring countries like Tibet, Nepal, Indonesia,
and Thailand. Even though these art works are from diverse background and culture,
they portray similarity in terms of message and ethnicity.
Forms of Indian Art
Paintings
Painting art form exists in India since time immemorial and is one of the oldest art
forms in India. The themes in pottery paintings depict the Indusvalley civilization
while the Ajanta and Ellora cave paintings speak about Buddhism in India. Despite
tough weather conditions and various invasions by different rulers, the paintings still

2. retain their originality and remain as a masterpiece of Indian art forms. The head
centre of the painting art forms existed then was: West India, East India, Central and
Deccan India with special works from Rajasthan paintings, modern, colonial and
Mughal paintings. The major paintings were of region based viz.,
Paintings
· North Indian
· South Indian
· West Indian
· East Indian
· Central Indian
· Rajasthani
· Mughal
· Colonial
· Modern
Sculpture
The Harappa civilization during the 2000 B.C. is said to be the golden era of Indian
sculpture art. Most of the Indian sculptures were sculpted to depict different Gods of
different religions specially Hinduism and Buddhism. The rulers then were the major
contributors to such sculpture sin India. Sculpting as a profession and techniques
involved were passed on to the family members, generation after generation. the
different sculpture forms existed in India are,
· Indus Valley
· Buddhist
· Hindu
· Islamic
· Colonial
· Modern
Dance forms
Indian classical dance is considered to be the most gracious and divine dance forms
in the world. The credit is due to the complex postures, gestures, emotions, visual
language, and body movements involved. A typical Indian classical dancer exhibits
emotions like anger, amusement, humor, hatred, love , and longingingness in his/her
dance. Some of the major dance forms in India are Kathak, Bharatha Nattiyam,
Kathakali, odishi, Manipuri and Kuchipudi.
Indian Theatre
Theatricals from India are the finest and oldest theatrical art forms in the world.
Indian Theatrical form is said to have originated from the fifth Veda known as
“Natya” bestowing the wish of Lord Brahma to entertain Gods. Natyasastra, an essay
written by Bharata on traditions existed in dance, makeup, acting, costume etc.,

3. Evolution of Indian Art
India: Pre-Independence (1900 – 1947)
In the early 1900s, there were three main common prominences on the art forms
existingthen. They were,
1. Cross – examining the influence of the west on the artistic expression
2. Having an intense need to bring about a unique idiom and identity for Indian
art
3. Engaging with the work and role of a typical Indian artist
Activities like interrogating the west and British’s suppression of the cultural
identity of India led to the Swadeshi movement. Many company painters and
followers of Raja Ravi Varma stopped practicing the artistic romanticisation in
arts. Such artists who practiced such mandates were referred as The Bengal
School of Painting. The most striking attributes of this school’s work are artist’s
selection of media, source(s) of inspiration, and artistic methods. The themes of
the arts by these schools of artists are based on Indian religions and mythology.
These artists used water colors, ink, tempera and Japanese wash methods while
they avoided oil medium, since it was a western practice. The major school of
artists who expressed themselves through the form was, Rabindranath Tagore,
Kshitindranath Mazumdar, D. P. Roy Choudury, Nandalal Bose, Sarada Ukil, A. K.
Haldar, and M. A. R. Chugtai. Artists like Gagnendranath Tagore and Rabindra
Tagore chose to work and experiment on concepts like personal idioms, cubism
and striking execution of art in modern terms. In Santiniketan Institute which was
founded by Tagore, the pioneering work of Benode Behari and Ramkinkar Balj
explicitly shows their love for nature and its beauty. Artists like Jamini Roy
preferred to work on the simplicity of the Indian folk arts.
Post-independence era
India was freed from the hands of colonial rule of the Britishers in the year 1947.
Ever since then, the art form had undergone a remarkable change where the arts’
theme marked the significance of India’s independence. Generally, Indian artists
never prefer historical themes for their art form unlessthose moments have led to a
major transition in India. Such artists were known as “Artists of Transition” and to
name a few of such notable artists are: K. K. Hebbar, N. S. Bendre, Sailoz Mukherjee,
Shiavax Chavda. The art forms of theirs portray vibrant colors and basic forms.
The Progressive Artist Group was founded in Mumbai, in the year 1947 wherein the
artists of this group emphasized to bring about a change in the art form; Indian
artists have been practicing till then. Their main objective was to cull the past and
the preempting artistic and cultural constraints. The artists who brought in such a
change were S. H. Raza, F. N. Souza, M. F. Hussain, S. Bakre, K. H. Ara, and H. A.
Gade. These artists were striving for an art form which is modern while remaining
Indian. Their art forms contained the above mentioned attributes were heavily
depended Parisian post – Impressionism and conceptual expressionism. Later

4. on,Artists like V. S. Gaitonde, Mohan Samant, and Krishnan Khanna joined this
league of progressive artist group.
Post-Independence (1970-1985)
During 1970s, the Indian art form underwent a significant change shifting the focus
on political and social issues especially through figuration. A series of unpleasant
events like the Bengal famine, naxalite movement, Emergency being declared by the
Late Prime Minister of India, Ms. Indira Gandhi led to this transition in Indian art.
Notable artists like Rameshwar Broota, Gieve Patel, Bikash Bhattacharjee, and Tybe
Mehta from Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi felt a sense of responsibility in directing
their passion towards contributing for a noble cause. These artists intertwined the
subjective and feminitive in their theme of the art form they practiced. Also, this era
witnessed a series of women artists emerging in the Indian art. Some of the notable
women artists include, Arpita Singh, Nalini Malani, Madhvi Parekh, and Navjot
among others. These women artists addressed issues like prejudice and victimhood
while expressing apolitical and introspective theme in their art form.
Contemporary Indian Art (1985 – present)
Modernism is best portrayed in the contemporary Indian art form which emerged in
the late eighties and early nineties. The pre-conceived notions in the art forms
existed then were culled off, and replaced by modern art of young artists. To keep
pace with the changing times, hyperrealism and photos, digital art forms came into
the pictures of Indian art and public sentience. One of the prominent artists then,
came up with the concept of “Hybrid Mannerisms” eventually turned out to
be :”hybrid signs”. Paradoxically,these hybrid signs were perceived to be normal and
familiar.
In the 1990s, a fragmented and pluralist mindset was widely prevalent in the
contemporary art form. This art form, in line with the technological advancement,
started to raise voice for the concerns of the “Globalized Indian”. The art forms of
artists like Surendran Nair, Shibu Natesan, Rekha Rodwittiya, Jayashree
Chakravarthy, and Ravinder Reddy. G conveyed dual messages of both personal
responses and the abundant information about the issue in scope. The
contemporary Indian art went beyond Indian borders and was recognized globally,
thanks to a plethora of art galleries (Both in India and abroad). With increase in
heterogeneity, Indian art has posed itself as an art which is the most creative and the
agility to keep up with the changing times. In today’s Indian art, the artists have
melded with videos blurred designs, digital spaces to bring about a new dimension in
the Indian art form. Such plural and heterogenic nature of artists will bring make
Indian art ever-receptive to development and transformation.
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