Do you think that the Company School of Painting had a Pan-India Presence? Substantiate your answer.

The company style of paintings was not a Pan-India phenomenon. This style developed in some cities only which had any of the following qualities:

• These cities had monuments and an inflow of foreign officials or tourists.
• These cities had expatriates from England.

This implies that that Style did not develop in regions such as Rajasthan, Punjab Hills and Hyderabad which were home to the local traditions. At the same time, it cannot benegated that the influence of British colonialism had profound impact on Indian arts which was visible in the deterioration of the above painting styles. In the early nineteenth century, this art was at its peak and its production was at a considerable level, with many of the cheaper paintings being copied by rote.
However, later, the style was subject to the competition with other styles and photography. The worst blow to the Company Style Paintings was given by the advent of Photography in early 1840s.

Topics: GS-I: Indian Art Forms