Fine Arts Commons^™

The Gentleman, The Craftsman And The Activist: Three Figures Of The Sino-Indian Artistic Exchange In Colonial Bengal, Nicolas Nercam

Artl@s Bulletin

This article analyses some aspects of the Chinese-Indian exchanges, which took place in the first half of the 20^th century, in the artistic circle of Calcutta and Shantiniketan, in Bengal. From the beginning of the last century, the Bengali elite was under the influence of Okakura Kakuzo’s Pan-Asian theories, in its approach to Chinese art. From the 20’s, under the auspices of Rabindranath Tagore the first direct contact between Chinese and Indian artistes took place and lasted until the 40’s. From the 30’s, the Bengali avant-garde, in its search of a new aesthetic in relation with social and political …