Name the school in which the artists painted in "Anglo-Indian style":

Question

Accepted Answer

The correct option is 1:

The Patna School of Painting, also historically known as Patna Kalam or, most significantly, the **Company style** of painting, is correctly identified as the 'Anglo-Indian style'. This school flourished from the late 18th to the mid-19th century under the direct patronage of British East India Company officials and European residents stationed in eastern India. This patronage led artists to fundamentally adapt their traditional Indian miniature techniques—such as fine ivory and paper mediums—by incorporating European conventions like linear perspective, naturalistic shading, and detailed portraiture. The resulting hybrid was a fusion that precisely defines the "Anglo-Indian style," primarily depicting scenes of daily life, local fauna, and European social customs for its colonial patrons.

The incorrect option is 2:
Mysore School painting is a classical South Indian art form that reached its zenith under the Wodeyar dynasty. This style is characterized by its elegant brushwork, subdued color palette, and intricate gesso work in low relief adorned with gold foil, primarily focusing on Hindu deities and mythological themes. While all traditional Indian art absorbed various influences, the Mysore style maintained a distinctly South Indian, devotional aesthetic and is fundamentally an evolution of the Vijayanagar school, not a school defined by the 'Anglo-Indian' fusion seen in the north.

The incorrect option is 3:
Kalighat School painting originated as a popular bazaar art form near the Kalighat temple in Calcutta during the 19th century. Its key characteristics are bold, rapidly executed, sweeping brushstrokes and vibrant, flat colors, typically painted on paper or cloth. Although it quickly evolved to comment on contemporary social and political life, its style emerged from a folk-art tradition, catering to a local, mass market rather than a colonial elite. It is considered an independent, modernizing folk style and is stylistically distinct from the formal 'Anglo-Indian' courtly hybrid of the Company style.

The incorrect option is 4:
Orissa School painting, most famously represented by Pattachitra, is a traditional style originating in Odisha, often centered around the cult of Lord Jagannath. This art form uses cloth as a canvas, prepared with a gum and chalk mixture, and employs bright mineral and vegetable colors for its strictly religious themes. This is an ancient, conservative folk tradition that adheres to classical rules of composition and iconography. It has strong local roots and, unlike the Patna School, was not created under the direct, foundational influence of British patronage to merit the "Anglo-Indian style" classification.