High art of the past

The Early Bengal paintings had their brief hiatus from the mid- to the late-nineteenth century

Holi is as good a time as any to talk about one of the most neglected, but endearing, schools of art practice that flourished briefly before being snuffed out. Yet, it marks a continuity with the “Indian” art that merits attention. Though it had resonances elsewhere, it flowered particularly in eastern India where it was known as Dutch Bengal — as much for the artists in Dutch-occupied Chinsurah, Cossimbazar and Murshidabad who practised it as for the Dutchmen who may have been early collectors — but has since found respect, along with Kalighat paintings, as the Early Bengal School of