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Provincial Painting: Patna Kalam Painting | History Optional for UPSC (Notes) PDF Download

Introduction

Patna School of Painting, also known as Patna Qalaam, Patna Kalam, or Company painting, is a style of Indian art that originated in Bihar during the 18th and 19th centuries.

  • It was the world's first independent school of painting, focusing exclusively on the lives and lifestyles of common people.
  • This unique emphasis contributed to the popularity of Patna Kalam paintings.
  • The principal centers of this art form were Patna, Danapur, and Arrah.

Origin

Patna Kalam: A Unique Art Form:

  • Origin: Patna Kalam is a branch of Mughal painting that developed in response to the challenges faced by artists during the rule of Aurangzeb in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
  • Migration of Artisans: Due to persecution and hostility towards art and painting, many artisans fled Delhi in search of refuge. A group of painters migrated eastward and settled in Murshidabad, where they found patronage under the Nawab of Bengal and local aristocrats.
  • Shift to Patna: In the mid-18th century, following the decline of the Nawab of Bengal and Murshidabad, these artisans moved to Patna, the next major city in eastern India.
  • Patronage in Patna: In Patna, the artists received support from the local aristocracy and Indophile descendants of the early East India Company. This environment fostered the development of a distinctive painting style.
  • Company Painting: The unique style that emerged in Patna came to be known as Company painting or Patna Kalam. By 1770, this style was well-established and reached its zenith between 1850 and 1880.

Salient Features

Patna Kalam Paintings: A Blend of Styles:

  • Patna Kalam paintings are rooted in Mughal painting but have a different subject matter.
  • The portraits in Patna Kalam have vibrant colors and outlines from the Mughal style, while the shading is influenced by the British style.
  • Unlike Mughal paintings, which often feature wide and decorative borders, Patna Kalam focuses more on the main subject of the painting.

Miniature painting 

Patna Kalam painting is a type of miniature painting.
They were mainly created on materials like paper, glass, mica, and ivory sheets.
Shading Technique: Unlike artists from Delhi, Patna Kalam painters used a slanting dot system for shading.
Backgrounds: Although backgrounds were rarely used, when they were, they depicted scenes like:

  • A door overlooking a river,
  • A garden scene,
  • A room partition with pillars and curtains,
  • Ornamented draperies, and so on.

Painters applied the brush directly without using a pencil to outline the picture. This technique is called Kajli seahi.

Themes

The Bihar School of Painting, established in Patna in 1730, was the world's first independent school focused on painting from everyday life. It was known for its unique subjects and indigenous style.

Subjects and Themes:

  • The school portrayed various aspects of daily life, including professions like stone-cutter, barber, shoemaker, palanquin bearer, peddler, butter-seller, and distiller.
  • Paintings also depicted birds found in Patna, showcasing the local fauna.

Background and Landscape:

  • The use of background and landscapes was minimal in these paintings. This was likely due to cost considerations, as creating detailed backgrounds would have been more expensive.
  • The artists aimed to make their paintings less costly by avoiding elaborate backgrounds.

Indigenous Style of Coloring:

  • The indigenous style of coloring involved the use of very fine brushes, often made from just one or two hairs.
  • These brushes were crafted from the hairs of domestic animals such as squirrel, goat, pig, and buffalo.

Differentiation from Mughal Style:

  • The Bihar School of Painting differed from the Mughal style in several ways.
  • Unlike the Mughal style, which often featured grand paintings of kings and courts, the Bihar School focused more on everyday life and local themes.

Main painters

Earliest recorded names in Patna style painting:

  • Sewak Ram (1770-1830)
  • Hulash Lal (1795-1880)
  • Jai Ram Das
  • Jhumak Lal
  • Fakirchand
  • Tuni Lal

Peak period of Patna style painting:1850-1880
Notable artists:

  • Shiv Lal
  • Shiv Dayalji

Last representatives of the Patna style:

  • Babu Mahadeo Lal
  • Shri Ishwari Prasad Verma (Ex-Vice Principal of the Government School of Art, Calcutta)

Characteristics of human paintings:

  • Heavy eyebrows
  • Pointed nose
  • Thin face
  • Deep-set staring eyes
  • Big mustaches on men

Materials used:

  • Colors extracted from plants, barks, flowers, and metals
  • Canvas, colors, and brush prepared by the painter themselves

Important paintings:

  • “Ragini Gandhari” and “Ragini Todi” by Mahadev Lal
  • Picture of Muslim marriage by Shiv Lal
  • Bharat Mata painting by Ishwari Prasad

Collections in Bihar:

  • Patna Museum
  • Khuda Baksh Library, Patna
  • State Art Gallery attached to the Government School of Arts and Crafts

Other collections:

  • National Museum, New Delhi

Patna Kalam Today

Patna Kalam Painting: A Glorious Legacy of Bihar:

  • Patna Kalam painting is characterized by its vibrancy and vivid portrayal of everyday life scenes.
  • Miniature ivory paintings in the Patna Kalam style are considered superior to Mughal paintings in terms of liveliness, precision, perfection, and beauty.
  • Unfortunately, there is currently no one to continue this tradition, and the style thrived only as long as its Western patrons supported it.
  • Despite this, Patna Kalam painting remains relevant and is regarded as one of the most glorious legacies of Bihar.
The document Provincial Painting: Patna Kalam Painting | History Optional for UPSC (Notes) is a part of the UPSC Course History Optional for UPSC (Notes).
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