Handbook of Indian Art' was written by:

Question

Accepted Answer

The correct option is 3:
Ernest Binfield Havell, or E. V. Havell, was a pioneering British art historian and critic who dedicated his life to advocating for the significance of Indian art. He served as the Principal of the Government School of Art in Calcutta and was a vital force behind the Bengal School's early development. Havell's book, *A Handbook of Indian Art*, published in 1920, is a landmark publication that systematically cataloged and celebrated the traditional Indian forms of architecture, sculpture, and painting. It served as a powerful counter-narrative to the prevailing colonial notion that Indian art lacked aesthetic value, thereby establishing an authoritative and influential academic foundation for the study of Indian art history.

The incorrect option is 1:
Asit Kumar Haldar was a distinguished Indian painter, writer, and a key figure in the Bengal School movement, which aimed to revive traditional Indian painting techniques. Haldar was indeed a successful art administrator, succeeding Havell as the Principal of the Government College of Art and Craft in Calcutta and later becoming the Principal of the Lucknow School of Arts and Crafts. While he authored books on the principles and history of Indian art, such as *Bharatiya Chitrakala*, the specific title *A Handbook of Indian Art* is universally attributed to E. V. Havell, his former mentor and colleague in the movement.

The incorrect option is 2:
Rabindra Nath Tagore was a towering polymath—a Nobel laureate, poet, philosopher, and later in life, an influential painter. His contributions to the arts were monumental, primarily through his literary works and his philosophical perspective on the spiritual essence of Indian culture, which deeply inspired the Bengal School. While his influence permeated the art scene of the time, and he wrote extensively on aesthetics, he was not the author of the scholarly art history survey known as *A Handbook of Indian Art*. That specific work was an academic documentation of history, which was not Tagore's primary field of written expertise.

The incorrect option is 4:
K. Venketappa was a highly regarded painter from Karnataka and an early student of the Bengal School under Abanindranath Tagore. He is recognized for his distinct style, particularly his watercolor landscapes and mythological subjects, and is considered one of the earliest modern artists in the South Indian state of Mysore. However, his lasting legacy rests upon his contributions as a practicing visual artist and art educator, not as the author of major art history textbooks. Therefore, he is not associated with writing the classic *A Handbook of Indian Art*.