Contribution of Indian Artist To National Freedom Movement

CONTRIBUTION OF INDIAN ARTIST IN NATIONAL FREEDOM STRUGGLE
With the establish 1857, the classical Indian art of Rajasthani, Pahari and Mughal miniatures
faded away. Western art was taught in western style in the art schools of Mumbai, Madras,
Kolkata, Lahore established by the British. The British artist propagated that there is no
meaningful traditional fine art in India and Indians are unable to learn it. To encourage the
national independence movement, Bengal school exponents chose classics, mythology, and
Indian history for their paintings. They did their best to establish the superiority of Western art
and culture over Indians. In such a situation, famous painters like Raja Ravi Varma,
Abanindranath Tagore, Nandlal Bose, Asit Kumar Haldar and M.A.R Chughtai came forward
with their masterpieces to establish the purity of Indian art in place of lifeless western painting.
This effort created a wave of patriotism among Indians and re-established forgotten
Indian cultural values. The Bengal School artist Shri Nand Lal Bose painted national leaders
and the Swarajya movement. He also decorated Congress pandals like Haripura pandals. The
great artist gave a tremendous moral boost to Indian National Movement. Therefore, the Bengal
School is also known as the Renaissance School. The Indian Society of Oriental Art was
founded in 1907 by renowned people and art lovers of Bengal. Abanindranath painted a picture
of 'Bharat Mata the painting was created during the Swadeshi movement. which was
appreciated everywhere as patriotic art. This way the Indian artist contributed greatly to
national independence movement.
BHARAT MATA BY NANDLAL BOSE
Abanindranath was the main artist and creator of an
important journal, Indian Society of Oriental Art. In this
manner, he was also the first major supporter of Swadeshi
values in Indian art, which best manifested in the creation of
Bengal School of Art.
Bharat Mata was personified as a divine Bengali woman
Sadhvi (saint) holding four symbolic objects in the
conventional manner of of Hindu diety. The objects were
emblems of nationalist aspirations towards economic and
cultural self-sufficiency and Independence. Anna (sheaves of
paddy, symbolizing food), Vastra (a piece of white fabric
symbolizing clothing), Siksha ( the Vedas symbolizing
learning & knowledge), and Diksha (rosary beads
symbolizing spiritual knowledge).this painting was
somewhat an originator of the roti-kapda-makan theme of
later India. it was his answer to the rising swadeshi sentiment
and the public uproar against the partition of Bengal.
BHARAT MATA BY AMRIT SHER GILL
Bharat Mata depicts a poor rural Indian woman
with an infant son in her lap and a young
daughter by her side, gazing directly at the
viewer. By portraying Mother India as an
impoverished peasant, Amrita Shergill
poignantly commented on the immensity of
poverty plaguing India. Painted in oils on
canvas, the work marked a radical break from
Abanindranath Tagore's idealized wash
paintings of Bharat Mata in the Bengal School
style. Through the silent melancholy in the
mother's eyes, Shergill conveyed a profound
sense of pain, helplessness, and hopelessness
never expressed in such a raw intense manner
before or since.
Nandalal Bose: A disciple of Abanindranath Tagore, Bose was
commissioned by Mahatma Gandhi to create artworks for the Haripura
Congress session in 1938. His murals and posters depicted Indian rural life
and symbols of self-reliance, reflecting Gandhian ideals.
Mahatma Gandhi invited him to paint panels that were put on display at the
Congress session at Haripura in 1937. Famously called the ‘Haripura
Posters’, they depicted ordinary rural folks busy in various activities — a
musician drumming, a farmer tilling, a woman churning milk, and so on.
They were painted as lively colorful sketchy figures and shown India as
contributing their Laboure to nation building. These posters echoed with
Gandhi’s socialist vision of including marginalized sections of Indian
society through art. Painters and sculptors contributed greatly to national
independence because their paintings spoke much more than long speeches.
However, Haripur posters have the biggest contribution to the world of
Indian art. For themes he selected the life of common people of Bengal and
their working condition during the British rule.
This is one of the panels made by Nandalal Bose in 1938 for the Haripura
Congress. In this panel, a farmer is shown ploughing a field — the daily activity
of a common man and in a village. To capture the essence of village life in his
Haripura panels, Bose made pen-and-ink brush studies of local villagers. He used
thick tempera in a bold cursory style and broad brushwork. This technique and
style was reminiscent of the folk art practice of patuas or scroll painters. Folk
style is purposely used to represent the rural life. It also conveys political
statement of Gandhi’s idea of village. The background of the poster has an arch.
The strong senses of formal design, bold colour scheme, and their blend of nature
and convention in this panel reflect Bose’s inspiration from Ajanta wall paintings
and sculptures. More than 400 posters were prepared at Kala Bhavana under the
supervision of Bose, who was influenced by the idea of Gandhi. These posters
place common people in the center of nation building. Bose utilized art to build
the nation’s moral character.
The Bose is the father of modern Indian art who added patriotic
feelings to his art. Nand Lal Bose made a black-and-white linocut of
Gandhi walking with an employee and wrote on it, "Bapuji, 1930.
On March 12, 1930, Mahatma Gandhi and 78 of his close associates
began a march from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, walking 10 miles
daily for 24 days on the way. The great artist gave a tremendous
moral boost to Indian National Movement.

Contribution of Indian Artist To National Freedom Movement

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CONTRIBUTION OF INDIAN ARTIST IN NATIONAL FREEDOM STRUGGLE

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