Page 25 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

22 ART AND CRAFTS

the Belgian artist Balt Solvyns (1760-1826), James Mofat (?), Colesworthy Grant (?),
William Simpson (?) and the uncle-nephew duo Thomas Daniell (1749-?) and William
Daniell (1769-?). The Daniells earned great fame by depicting the exquisite
landscapes of India in their works (fig.1.8). Apart from these artists there were a
number of amateurs who came to India as service-holders or on other assignments
who took to painting as hobby or out of curiosity. Prominent among them were James
B. Fraser, William Prinsep, Emily Eden, Madam Belson, G.F. Atkinson etc. Apart from
such artists as John Zoffany and Tilly Kettle the others were mediocre and less known.
Although their works were not of great artistic merit, they were of great historic value
because of their detailed depiction of the nature, dwellings and households, popular
life, food and apparels, professions and rituals and fairs and festivals of Bengal of the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. They were crucial in transforming the taste of the
elite society in India and created a preference for the naturalistic rendering of the west
which played a very significant role in shaping the characteristics of the modern art
movements in India in later years. 24
The British artists who came to India were natural descendents of the art traditions of
their country. A general practice of painting landscapes, portraits and genre-life
developed in England in the middle of the eighteenth century with the patronization
of the aristocracy and the wealthy classes of society. Artists like Joshua Reynolds,
Thomas Gainsborough and William Hogarth were the great exponents of this tradition.
The British artists in India were inspired by the artistic concept of these three noble
painters. However, despite excellent technical expertise, lack of imaginative and
creative powers on the part of most of these painters confined their works to a narrow
limit.
The attitude of the British towards traditional Indian art, on the other hand, was not
supportive. They considered traditional Indian art as inferior to that of the west. They
ridiculed Indian art for lacking knowledge of light and shade and perspective and
consequently drew up a plan to teach the local artists the techniques of western art
under the guidance of English art teachers. 25

Translated by Abul Mansur, Professor, Department of Fine Arts, University of Chittagong