In the eighteenth century, upon coming in contact with the traditional form of Indian art, history, and literature, the British reflected an enlightened attitude and spread such ideas in the British Empire back then. This led to the growing popularity of Indian art and luxury crafts among the British populace.
Why were British Art Schools Established?
In the mid-nineteenth century, however, this attitude began to change. The expression and sensibilities of Indian art were deemed to be ‘dead’ by the British as it was believed that India had no ‘living’ art form. This meant that the artists in India, according to the British, weren’t able to convey the tradition and sensibility of the time as well as they traditionally did.
The policy-makers, therefore, decided to open art schools in various major regions in India. There were two primary reasons behind this idea:
Insufficiency of Mechanical Knowledge
On a surface level, the rationale behind the establishment of these art schools offered by the British was that Indian artists of the time weren’t able to convey a coherent Indian sensibility because their knowledge of mechanical methods of production was simply insufficient. The art schools, therefore, became a necessity to fulfill this knowledge gap.
Moreover, since industrial art seemed to be declining at the time, British policymakers needed to cultivate the Indian artisans to be able to fill the gap. The establishment of mechanical institutes that imparted such skills hence became a necessity.
Promoting Western Values
A deeper reason for the ‘necessity’ of the art schools, one that wasn’t advocated by the British, was that these mechanical institutes would prove to be a key element in promoting western ideals, values, and education among the Indian masses. Moreover, since art plays a huge role in shaping the sensibilities of the masses, if it were influenced by western ideals, the Indian masses would also show a favorable attitude towards the British government.
Due to such reasons, the British policy-makers advocated for the necessity of mechanical art schools in India, and therefore, Frederick Corbin founded the first art school in Calcutta(present-day Kolkata) in 1939 by the name Calcutta Mechanics’ Institution and School of Arts.
