Popular Art Forms in The Colonial Period

POPULAR ART FORMS IN THE COLONIAL PERIOD Sandip K Luis
2024
• Company paintings in the Company/British Raj
• Kalighat paintings in colonial Calcutta
• Battala woodblock prints in colonial Calcutta
COMPANY PAINTING/SCHOOL
A school of painting that emerged
in the Indian subcontinent ruled by
the British East India Company
during the late eighteenth century.
Company painting was a hybrid
style that was influenced by the
European painting styles of
Daniells and British artists, as well
as existing miniature traditions in
India. It combined the visual
idioms of Mughal and Rajput
miniature painting with Western
modes such as Illusionism and
the picturesque.
Notable artists: Ghulam Ali Khan

of Delhi, and Sewak Ram of
Patna
• The warm or inner room of the Bath; the cold or outer room of
the Bath in the Red Fort.
• The Rung Muhul. The Rang Mahal inside the Red Fort.
(From a series of 31 paintings by Ghulam Ali Khan on Delhi

monuments)
• Divan-i Khass in the
Palace in the Delhi
Fort, by Ghulam 'Ali
Khan, 1817
The view of the Red
Fort with the Shah
Burj, the Saman Burj
and Asad Burj from
the river.
Five Recruits: Ummee
Chund, Indur,
Goolzaree, Bukhtawur
and Juhaz, Artist
unknown, attributed to
the family of Ghulam
Ali Khan (dated
between circa 1815
and circa 1816)
Company Painting/School
Company rule resulted in the loss of

courtly patronage for artists in India,
which led to artists and craftsmen from
the courtly centres in Bengal migrating
to commercial cities such as Patna and
Murshidabad. Once trained in Western
visual conventions like perspective, these
artists with their skilful draughtsmanship
were absorbed in the administrative
institutions of the East India Company and
employed to create an ethnographic
record of the native “trades and castes”,
topography, culture and traditions of
India, including architecture and street
scenes.
Instead of the traditional gouache, the

paintings were characteristically made in
watercolour and were distinct in their
treatment of linear perspective and
shading.
A large painting
depicting the
observation of
Muharram, attributed to
the artist Sewak Ram,
Patna, early 19th
Century (545 x 750 mm)
Study of flora and fauna
Gmelina asiatica by Rungia Raju (right), 1827
Brahminy Starling with Two Antheraea Moths, Caterpillar, and Cocoon on

Indian Jujube Tree; Sheikh Zain al-Din (below), 1777
Study of flora and fauna

Kalighat Painting
Now declined but a relatively modern tradition of popular watercolour painting
that originated in Calcutta and was practised by the artisans of the Patua
community, between the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth century. The name
derives from the city’s Kalighat temple, around which the painters had established
their business. Though these paintings were originally intended to be souvenirs for
devotees visiting the temple of Kali and featured primarily Hindu imagery, they
expanded over time to include other religious traditions as well as socio-political
commentary.
Kalighat temple then and now

Unfinished sketches of man
and woman revealing the
process of how a Kalighat
was created, attributed to
Nibaran Chandra Ghosh,
about 1900, Kolkata,
India.
Unlike the sequential

narratives of the
patachitras, each Kalighat
painting depicted a single
and simplified scene,
usually featuring opaque
figures on neutral
backgrounds. The creation
of a Kalighat painting
was often a family affair,
with different members
completing different steps
of the process.
Hanuman fights Ravana c. 1880s
Clockwise from top left: A lady holding a peacock, unknown artist,

about 1860 – 70; Durga Mahishasuramardini, about 1860s; The
Mahant and Elokeshi share a hookah and paan, unknown artist,
about 1875 – 90; Work in progress, by Anwar Chitrakar, 2011; A
cat with a fish, by Kanai Lal Ghosh, about 1920s; A woman putting a
rose in her hair, by Nibaran Chandra Ghosh, about 1900
• A British company master
in a duet with supposedly
a native.
• Rui fish.
• Shiva and Parvati on
Nandi
• Babu (an educated middle-class
Bengali man) and Bibi in an
intimate embrace.
• A courtesan/actress with her
sheepish admirer (babu).
• Bibi hitting the babu with a broom
Depiction of the changing status of
women (including their the sexual
and social empowerment)
A public scandal in 19th-
century Bengal during the
British Raj, regarding an
illicit love affair between
Elokeshi, the wife of a
government employee
Nobin Chandra, and the
Brahmin head priest (or
mahant) of the Tarakeswar
Shiva temple, which
resulted in Nabin
decapitating Elokeshi. The
two men were found guilty
by the court but the public
outcry in favour of the
husband made Nobin
released after two years.
Kalighat pats of the Tarakeshwar affair/scandal. (1) The mahant offers Elokeshi childbirth medicine, to
drug her before raping her. (2&3) Nabin attacks and kills Elokeshi.
Battala Woodcut Prints
Mainly known for pulp and ‘obscene’ publications,
a short-lived 19th-century printing industry based
in Bat-tala, in Hoogly district of the north-part of
Kolkata (also called the “Black town” by the
Europeans).
The Chitpore bazaar where battala was located

Battala Woodcut Prints
These woodcuts were hand-engraved
variations of the more popular Kalighat
pats, block-printed en masse for public
consumption. Since they were quickly
replaced by late-19th century oleograph
prints, very few woodcut prints, owing to
the acidity of paper and humid climate,
survive from this period.
ONLINE REFERENCE
• Victoria & Albert Museum
https://www.vam.ac.uk/
• MAP Academy
https://mapacademy.io/

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POPULAR ART FORMS IN THE COLONIAL PERIOD Sandip K Luis

Notable artists: Ghulam Ali Khan

(From a series of 31 paintings by Ghulam Ali Khan on Delhi

Company rule resulted in the loss of

Instead of the traditional gouache, the

Brahminy Starling with Two Antheraea Moths, Caterpillar, and Cocoon on

Study of flora and fauna

Kalighat temple then and now

Unlike the sequential

Clockwise from top left: A lady holding a peacock, unknown artist,

The Chitpore bazaar where battala was located

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