NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science Chapter 10 : The changing World of Visual Arts

Question 1: Fill in the blanks:

(a) The art form which observed carefully and tried to capture exactly what the eye saw is called___.

(b) The style of painting which showed Indian landscape as aquaint, unexplored land is called___.

(c) Paintings which showed the social lives of Europeans in India are called___.

(d) Paintings which depicted scenes from British imperial history and their victories are called___.

Solution:

(a) The art form which observed carefully and tried to capture exactly what the eye saw is called portraiture.

(b) The style of painting which showed Indian landscape as a quaint, unexplored land is called picturesque.

(c) Paintings which showed the social lives of Europeans in India are called Kalighat paintings.

(d) Paintings which depicted scenes from British imperial history and their victories are called history paintings.

Question 2: Point out which ofthe following were brought in with British art:

(a)oil painting (b)miniatures (c) life-size portrait painting (d)use of perspective (e) mural art.

Solution:

(a) Oil painting, (c)life-size portrait painting and (d) use of perspective.

Solution:

The painting which depicts the discovery of the body of Tipu Sultan shows the British as more powerful than Indians. In this painting, the British General is shown as if standing on a high pedestal and exuding all the confidence. The might of the British empire is visibly marked in the paintings to establish a strong root in Indian soil. On the other hand, Tipu Sultan is shown half naked and lifeless; lying in the dark recess. The painting appears to announce that those who dare to challenge the British authority would meet the same fate.

Solution:

The scroll painters and potters come to Kalighat in the hope of new patrons and never buyers of their art. After the 1 &lOs, a new trend was visible within the Kalighat artists. Living in a society where values, tastes, social norms and customs were undergoing rapid changes, Kalighat artists responded to the world around and produced paintings on social and political themes.

Solution:

Raja Ravi Varma was one of the first artists who tried to create a style that was both modern and national. He used the Western art of oil painting and realistic life study to paint themes from Indian mythology. He dramatised on canvas scene after scene from the Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. This portrayal of an Indian consciousness is what makes his paintings national. This was perhaps one of the reasons why his paintings were popular not only among Indian princes and art collectors but also among the masses.

Solution:

The British history paintings in India reflected the attitudes of imperial conquerors. The British history paintings sought to dramatise and recreate various episodes of British imperial history. These paintings celebrated the British power, their victories and their supremacy. The imperial history paintings attempted to create a public memory of imperial triumphs. Victories had to be remembered, implanted in the memory of people, both in India and Britain. Only then could the British create a lasting impression in the mind of people.

Solution:

The paintings of Ravi Varma were rejected as they seemed like imitating western ideas. Some artists felt that his art was unsuitable for depicting the nations ancient myths and legends. They 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. These artists 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. Rabindranath Tagore was one of the first artists who wanted to develop a national style of art.

Solution:

The mechanical printing presses were set up in different parts of India by the late nineteenth century allowed prints to be produced in large numbers than produced by manual labour. These prints could therefore be sold cheap in the market. As a result, even the poor could buy them. The popular prints of the early twentieth century carried the nationalist messages to far and wide. Such popular prints would have inspired people to fight British rule. Thus the prints could create a platform for the spread nationalist ideas across the regions of India.