Why do youthink some artists wanted to develop a national style of art?

Manypainters, towards the end of nineteenth century, wanted to establisha stronger connection between art and nationalism. To do so, theytried to develop a style of art that could be considered both modernand Indian. This attempt to create a national style of art can beseen in the works produced by Raja Ravi Varma. He used the Westernart of oil painting and realistic life study to portray scene afterscene from the Indian mythology. However, there never was a clearconsensus as to what defined an authentic Indian style of art.Nationalist artists like Abanindranath Tagore rejected the art ofRavi Varma and felt that a genuine Indian style of painting needed todraw inspiration from non-Western art traditions, and try to capturethe spiritual essence of the East. So, theyturned to medieval Indian traditions of miniature painting and theancient Indian art of mural painting. They were also influenced bythe Japanese art tradition.

There wereothers who felt that an authentic Indian style of art would be onewhich explored the real life instead of illustrating ancient books;one which looked for inspiration from living folk art and tribaldesigns rather than ancient art forms. Ultimately, what all theseartists aimed at representing was a certain national consciousnesswith which each Indian could relate.