Page 21 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

18 ART AND CRAFTS

B. Company Art and Foreign Artists in India
Faizul Azim and Abul Mansur

Company Art
The rule of the Nawabs in Murshidabad became politically uncertain due to the defeat
of Sirajuddowla at the hands of the British at Plassey in 1757. As prominence of
Murshidabad decreased slowly, the quality of the court-patronized painting started to
degenerate as well. Nevertheless, the loss of the patronization of the Nawabs was
substituted by the rising Hindu capitalist society and with their sympathetic cooperation
the court-painters continued to paint, the subject-matter chiefly being Hindu religious
motifs. In fact, at that period, the Murshidabad style of painting became divided into two
distinct types. One was inspired by local painting-styles outside the court and was
manifested in manuscripts and scroll paintings and the other was a completely different
trend inspired by the British traders who were gradually exerting more and more
influence. The last mentioned one, directly patronized by the British and other European
settlers came to be known as ‘Company Painting’ in later times.
The condition of the local artists during the Company period was not at all commendable
due mostly to the indifferent attitude of the British rulers towards Indian art. The British,
at that time, engaged Indian artists for such works as merely coloring and decorating
houses. However, the Company rulers felt the necessity of engaging local artists for the
purpose of painting only in later times. There were reasons for this change of attitude.
The Indian artists were not technically less accomplished than the professional English
painters. They were also psychologically more at ease than their European counterparts
when depicting their native people and nature. Above all, it was possible to employ the
local artists at much lower remuneration then the English painters.
As a result, as the area of the Company rule expanded the demand for employment of
the local artists increased as well. Thus a host of local artists, patronized by the
Company, started working not only in Murshidabad, but also in Patna, Benares and
some other places. However, their works did not pursue the traditional Indian style of
painting. Instead, they were executed in a style which tried to follow the naturalistic
trend of painting introduced by the English. This style of painting originated in
Murshidabad in the second half of the eighteenth century and persisted at different
centers of India even after the end of the Company rule.
A number of trends of Company art were noticeable in Murshidabad. Firstly, the
miniature portraits painted on paper. A synthesis of the provincial Mughal style and
the European ideals of art could be seen in these portraits of British and other
European aristocracy. The second trend was evident in group-portraits of the Indian
elite and feudal lords. These paintings, done at the direction of the Company and
executed in dull and drab colors, reflected in general the artistic taste of the British.