Bengal School, Company School, Calcutta Group

Vishwa Bharati: the university established by Rabindranath Tagore in Santiniketan had produced many an important personalities of modern India. Tagore’s emphasis of reverting back to Indian Gurukul system and his steadfast determination of not accepting financial aid from the colonial British government had attracted nationalists like Gandhi and Nehru among its patrons.

In the field of Art, Santiketan is credited with the beginning of the nationalist Bengal School of art which heralded the beginning of modernism in India. These artists like Abanindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose and Ganendranath Tagore brought into Indian Art the influences of major international trends of the time, like cubism, impressionism, German expressionism and also Oriental styles like Japanese and Chinese Ink Art.

Influence of Mughal Mural Abanindranath Tagore

Indian Folk art and tribal art which were relegated to background by the rt academies were given due importance by Artists of Santiniketan’s Art school called the Kalabhavan. Some of the Artists like Abani Sen, Benode Bihari Mukherjee, Ramkinker Baij and Chittaprasad later had started the first leftist Art Group of India : the Calcutta Group.

Influence of Oriental Ink Art  Gaganendranath Tagore

In post-independence India, important Artists like KG Subramanian, and Shankho Chaudhuri who were associated with Santiniketan had spread out to other parts of the country and had given new lease of life to new art schools established in Delhi and Baroda

KG Subramanian