Page 24 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

PAINTING 21

demand of these alien patrons, had very clearly adapted the naturalistic tendencies of
the art of the west. It is to be noted that the European artists who came to India to seek
their fortunes played an important role in formulating this art style, because the local
artists took lessons in naturalistic painting from these foreign artists.
Foreign Artists in India
A good number of artists from Great Britain and other European countries gathered
in India at the beginning of the Company rule. All of them were not well known; in
fact apart from a few, most of them were painters of mediocre or low caliber. There
were a number of amateurs besides professional painters. The works of both
professional and amateur painters are part of India’s socio-economic history. These
paintings are documents of British art history as well. It is not possible to assess the
successes and failures of the Company Art without a discussion of the foreign artists
in colonial India. 23
To the newcomers from Europe the people, their life and the natural scenes of India
were the prime attractions. The exuberant charm of Indian nature could not be
expressed in letters in those days without cameras. In fact, the practice of amateur
painting developed primarily from these personal requirements. It was natural that the
amateur painters had their limitations, though some of them undertook short training
courses and showed a lot of competence. But these were a handful and the general
quality of the majority was mediocre.
To the Europeans of the eighteenth century, India was a country of endless mystery
and wealth. After the 1757 conquest of India a good number of British and European
artists started to travel to India in the hope of making their fortunes overnight.
Nevertheless, some European artists came and settled in this country of their dreams
even earlier to try their luck. However, the tendency gained momentum due to the
establishment of colonial rule in India. We can collect the names of at least sixty fig. 1.8 Gaur, Kotwali
Darwaza, Thomas and
foreign painters, excluding the less important ones. These artists worked principally in William Daniell, after
three techniques – a) oil color on canvas, b) miniatures in watercolor on ivory, and c) Islamic Heritage of
engraving prints based on watercolors on paper. Important oil painters were Tilly Bengal, UNESCO, 1984
Kettle (1735-86), John Zoffany (1734/5-1810), Arthur Davis (1763-1822), Thomas
Hicky (?), Francesco Rinaldi (?), Robert
Home (1757-1834), William Beechy (?),
Marshal Clakson (?), the Russian artist
Vassily Vereschagin (1842-1904) etc.
Prominent among the artists who painted
watercolor miniatures on ivory were Ozias
Humphrey (1742-1810), George Chinnery
(1774-1852) and Charles D’Oyly (1781-
1845). Among those who did watercolors on
paper and then sold copies of engraving prints
from them were William Hodges (1744-97),