ART GALLERIES OF INDIA
Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata is the oldest fine arts academy in India. It was founded by Lady Ranu Mukherjee in 1933. The academy accommodates a large collection of paintings and other art works by important Bengal School artists like Gaganendranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, Nandala Basu and many others. Maharaja Prodyot Kumar Tagore was the first president of Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata. The academy run under his leadership for a long period of art and the strong foundations were laid by him, it can be said that. The vision of the academy is “to foster and encourage the Group Theatres in the state irrespective Of their stature and reputation.†People from all over the world, interested in art, visit the academy and the exhibitions conducted by the academy.
Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh, is a prestigious museum of North India having collections of Pahari Gandharan sculptures, and Rajasthani beautiful miniature paintings. It owes its jab. existence to the partition of India in August, 1947. Before the partition, the collections of art objects, paintings and sculptures were housed in the Central Museum, Lahore, which later became the capital of Pun After partition, the division of collections took place on April 10, 1948. Sixty percent of objects were retained by Pakistan and forty percent collection fell in the share of India which was a great fortune. The museum was inaugurated on 6 May 1968 Chandigarh.
Government Museum, Chennai also known as the Madras Museum, it is a museum based on Indian history and culture. It is located in the government museum complex in Chennai. It was started in the year 1851. It is the second oldest museum in India and the tenth oldest in the world. It consists of a Main building with a variety of paintings and sculptures, a Front building with puppets, a Bronze gallery with bronze sculptures and old coins, a National Art Gallery with traditional paintings and a Contemporary Art Gallery with Britishtime portraits. A few of the famous artefacts preservedhere are: ꞏ Sculpture of Lord Vishnu in bronze from the Chola period ꞏ Sculpture of Bhadrakali( a form of goddess Shakti) in bronze from the 14th century CE ꞏ Sculpture of Dakshinamurthi(Lord Shiva in the form of a teacher) from the Chola period, 12th century CE ꞏ Sculpture of Mahishasuramardini(Goddess Durga) in bronze from the Chola period, 11th century CE ꞏ Tribal artefacts from Assam This museum also has a 3D theatre under construction. It is the first of its kind in a state museum. It will be screening scienceoriented films. They will be 20 mins long films and will be played five times a day.
Indian Museum ,Kolkata. Founded in 1814 at the cradle of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (at the present building of the Asiatic Society, 1 Park Street, Kolkata), Indian Museum is the earliest and the largest multipurpose Museum not only in the Indian subcontinent but also in the Asia Pacific region of the world. With the foundation of Indian Museum in 1814, the Museum movement started rolling in India and through the years from then, got a new fillip and great momentum. Since then, it has so magnificently developed and culmina ted into the fruitful existence of more than 400 museums in the country. The movement, which was started in 1814, in fact was the beginning of a significant epoch initiating the sociocultural and scientific achievements of the country. It is otherwise con the end of mediaeval era.
JEHANGIR ART GALLERY, The gallery is named after its founder Sir Cowasji Jehangir. It was established in 1952. It is situated in south Mumbai near the Gateway of India. It was designed by Durga Bajpai. It follows the concept of an introverted art gallery which is an example of early modernist notions. It hosts various exhibitions by painters, sculptors, ceramists, craftsmen, weavers and photographers. It also regularly organizes lectures and workshops on various forms of art. It provides an opportunity for budding artists to showcase their work and allow their artworks to reach a wide audience.
The NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART,(NGMA) is the prominent art gallery under Ministry of Culture, Government of India.The main museum at Jaipur House in New Delhi was established on 29 March 1954 by the Government of India, with subsequent branches at Mumbai and Bangalore. Its collection of more than 1700 works by 2000 plus artists includes artists such as Thomas Daniell, Raja Ravi Verma, Abanindranath Tagore, Rabindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Jamini Roy, Amrita Sher Gil as well as foreign artists. Some of the oldest works preserved here date back to 1857. With 12,000 square meters of exhibition space,the Delhi branch is one of the world’s largest modern art museums.
