Art and Culture Unit 1 Visual Arts: General Knowledge, Facts, and History Overview

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Last Updated on October 26, 2024 by XAM CONTENT

Hello students, we are providing General Knowledge (GK) Articles useful for all exams. The resources for GK are very less and also not organised in proper way. So, to help students we have created special GK website to provide all GK articles in proper and organised way. In this article, you will find important one-liners general knowledge for Art and Culture Unit 1 Visual Arts.

Subject	Art and Culture
Unit	Unit 1 Visual Arts
Topics	Indian architecture, sculpture and pottery Indian paintings Indian handicrafts
Nature of Material	General Knowledge (GK)
Useful for	All Exams that Include GK
Covered	Important One-Liners
Important Link	Art and Culture GK

Indian Architecture, Sculpture and Pottery

Harappan Art and Architecture

• Architecture: Harappans were the first to introduce the concept of worker welfare by creating separate worker’s quarters.
  Materials that were used for the construction of buildings:
• Bricks,
• baked bricks,
• mud, stones, and
• other mud-based materials.

Other remarkable features of Harrapan civilisations were:

• Towns: Towns were in rectangular patterns; roads ran in a north-south and east-west direction and cut each other at right angles.
• Cities were divided into two parts: The upper part (citadel) and lower part. Harappan sites did not have large monuments/palaces. Public baths were present in the sites: Great Bath was present in Mohenjo-Daro. It had advanced drainage system.
• Sculpture: Bearded Man was discovered in MohenjoDaro which was carved out of stone; numerous seals of different shapes and sizes, Bronze sculpture was made at most of the Harappan sites, Bronze casting was done using the Lost Wax Technique. Dancing Girl was a bronze sculpture found in Mohenjo-Daro. Terracotta Sculptures were mostly found in the sites of Gujarat and Kalibangan.
• Pottery: Two Types: Plain pottery and Painted pottery (Red and Black pottery).
• Ornaments: Both men and women wore ornaments, discovered in Chanhu-daro and Lothal; examples necklaces, fillets armlets and finger ring.

Mauryan Art and Architecture

Some of the notable features of Mauryan Art and Architecture are:

• Architecture: Wood was the main material used in the initial construction but later stone became prominent and several stupas were built in the Ashoka period.
• Sculptures: Mostly built for the decoration of Stupas, Yaksha and Yakshi are famous sculptures.
• Palaces: Palaces at Kumrahar; inspired by the Achaemenid palaces at Persepolis in Iran.
• Caves: Caves were used for viharas.
• Pottery: Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW); highest level of pottery.

Post Mauryan Art

Some of the features of this period are:

• Architecture: Development of Chaitya and Vihara, Viharas were residential halls for Jain and Buddhist monks developed in the Mauryan period. Chaityas halls were developed in this period and were used as prayer halls. Stupas were bigger in this period and stone was mostly used for construction.

• Sculpture: Three different types of schools came up:
  • Gandhara: Influence of Greek, use of bluish grey sandstone but later mud and stucco were used, mostly Buddhist, patronized by Kushana rulers, developed in North West Frontier, Buddha shown in spiritual state with fewer ornaments.
  • Mathura: Indigenous, red sandstone was used, the influence of Hinduism; Jains and Buddhists; patronized by Kushana rulers; developed along Mathura, Buddha shown in a delighted mood with face and head shaven.
  • Amravati: Indigenous, white marble was used, mostly Buddhist, patronized by Satavahanas rulers, developed along Krishna-Godavari valley, and depicted life stories of Buddha and jataka tales.
  • Stupas: Stone usage in place of wood and brick; torans was introduced by Shunga dynasty; Hellenistic influence; Bharhut stupa in Madhya Pradesh.

Gupta Art and Architecture

This period was considered the Golden Period of Indian Architecture of ancient time. Some unique features of this era are:

• Cave Architecture: Mural paintings on the cave walls; The caves of Ajanta and Ellora, Bagh Caves have some of the best examples of mural art.
• Stupas: Decline in stupas, Dhamek stupa at Sarnath.
• Scupltures: Metal and cream coloured sandstone usage.

Temple Architecture

• Nagara: North India, temples were built in the Panchayatan architecture, mandapas were meeting halls, no water tanks or reservoirs, temples constructed on raised platforms, did not have ornate boundary walls or gateways, curving Shikhara. Odisha school, Khajuraho school and Solanki school are three types of it.
• Dravidian: South India, temple surrounded by a high boundary wall, gopuram was entrance gateway, designed in the p style, presence of Vimana which was rose like stepping pyramid, only one vimana on top of the main temple, presence of a water-tank. Chola rulers built in South India.
• Vesara: Influence of Nagara and Dravidian Styles, also known as Karnataka school of architecture. Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas and Hoysala Dynasty used such temple architecture.

Indo-Islamic Architecture

Some important features are:

• Introduction of arches and domes,
• Arcuate style replaced the Trabeate style,
• Minars were built,
• Mortar was used as a cementing agent,
• No human or animal figures,
• Importance to calligraphy, added spaciousness,
• Massiveness, and breadth to the architecture,
• Arabesque style in geometry was used, jaali art,
• Charbagh style of gardening
• Pietra-dura technique for the inlay

Modern Architecture

Important modern architecture are:

• Portuguese: Iberian architectural style; constructed trading terminals and warehouses along the coasts.
• French: Established the concept of anonymous architecture; the concept of urban city planning; constructed massive structures.
• British: Indo-Gothic Style (Victorian style, pointed arches, use of large windows, large buildings), NeoRoman (Circular buildings, upturned dome, Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker famous architect).

Indian Paintings

Prehistoric Paintings

• Upper Palaeolithic Period: Caves were formed of quartzite, and red, white, yellow, and green colours were used. Red was used for hunters, white, dark red and green were used to depict large animals and green was used for dancers in human sculptures mostly.
• Mesolithic Period: Mostly hunters were depicted, size of paintings was smaller than Upper Palaeolithic Period. This period mainly saw the use of red colour.
• Chalcolithic Period: Green and yellow colours were mostly used, and most paintings depicted battle scenes, musical instruments were also depicted in the paintings.

Classification of Paintings

Paintings can be classified into:

• Mural: Painted on the walls of solid structures, Fresco technique is related to mural painting, paintings of Ajanta and Ellora caves are some examples.
• Miniature paintings: Executed on a very small scale on perishable material such as paper, not larger than 25 square inches.

Folk Painting

Some of the important paintings are:

• Madhubani Paintings: From Bihar; themes inspired by Hindu religion, traditionally painted on walls but later on paper also.
• Pattachitra Paintings: From Odisha; colours made from natural material; the brush is used to draw the outlines.
• Kalamkari Paintings: From Andhra Pradesh; bamboo is used to construct pen for colouring; colours are made with vegetable dyes; the base used for colouring is cotton fabric; images inspired by Hindu mythology.
• Warli Painting: From the Gujarat-Maharashtra border; resemblance prehistoric mural paintings at Bhimbetka; ritualistic paintings; traditionally done on walls using geometrical patterns.
• Thangka Painting: Practices in Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh region and Arunachal Pradesh, related to Buddhism’s ideals.

Indian Handicrafts

Glassware: Mentioned in Mahabharata; evidence found in Painted Grey Ware Culture of the Ganges valley; no evidence in the early Harappan period; evidence of glass industry found in Maharashtra’s Brahmapuri and Kolhapur; evidence found in Maski, a Chalcolithic site in the Deccan. Mughals preferred glassware in decorations; Panchkora or glass toys built in Saharanpur; Firozabad is also famous for glassworks. Tikuli is a glasswork from Bihar.

Cloth Handicrafts

• Tie and Dye: The process of tying and dying yarn or cloth; also known as bandh in Odisha; Ikat style is associated with it; creates beautiful patterns on fabrics; Bandhani or Bandhej is a tie and dye process and a famous art; Laharia is a type of tie and dye method of Jaipur and Jodhpur that creates ripples or wave-like patterns on the cloth; Kalamkari from Andhra Pradesh, uses the art of hand painting on fabrics with vegetable dyes of deep colours.
• Embroidery Craft: Embroidery is the skill of creating elevated patterns using threads or wooden blocks and is unique among textile crafts; Applique and Pipli embroidery technique is from Odisha; the Darning technique from Punjab and Haryana; Chikankari from Lucknow; Kashida embroidery from Kashmir.
• Weaving: It refers to the process of interlacing yarn to produce textiles and fabrics.

Ivory Carving

It has been practiced in India since the Vedic time when it was referred to as danta.
The inscription from Sanchi mentions the Vidisha guild of ivory workers and the carved sculptures in the Sanchi Stupa.
The ivory comb has been found in Taxila; Ivory was also used during the Mughal period. Other famous places for ivory are:

• Kerala: It is well-known for paintings on ivory.
• Jodhpur: It is famous for ivory bangles.
• Jaipur: It is well-known for its ivory jali work, which is used in homes and small art objects.

Silver Crafts

Filigree work is the famous work used in silver jewellery. Silver anklets known as painri and paijam are very popular in Odisha. Bidri art includes the work of silver from Karnataka.

Clay and Pottery Works

It is also known as the Lyric of handicrafts. Evidence has been found in Neolithic site of Mehrgarh. Painted Grey Ware pottery associated with the Vedic period is the most well-known ancient pottery; Roulette Pottery has been discovered in Southern India.

Bronze Crafts

Bronze metals were used more for spears and arrows in the ancient period. Dancing Girl from Mohenjodaro is a famous bronze art. Uttar Pradesh is the leading producer of bronze crafts. Tamil Nadu is another important centre.

Leather Products

Tigers and deer were among the first animals whose skins were tanned. However, camels also quickly became the most popular animal for skinning.

Rajasthan has the largest leather market where camel leather is used. Jaipur and Jodhpur are known for their Mojadis, a specialised type of leather footwear. Kolhapuri chappals are popular in Maharashtra. Kanpur is also a famous leatherwork centre.

Wooden Work

Kashmiri latticework is an important woodwork, Gujarat is another famous centre for latticework.

Stoneware

The stonework was later shifted to marble work in the Mughal Period. Pietra Dura’s Work is related to marble work used during the Mughal period.

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