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

• 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 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 

• 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

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

• 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 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.