Raja Ravi Varma's mythological paintings became very popular. Responding to this popularity, Ravi Varma decided to set-up a picture production team and printing press on the outskirts of Bombay. Colour prints of his religious paintings were mass produced. These prints were affordable, so the poor could also buy these cheap prints.

By the mid-19th century, many photographers from Europe came to India and began travelling.
They took different types of pictures such as:
(i) Some took photographs of imperial officials, presenting them as figures of authority and power.
(ii) Others took pictures of ruined buildings and picturesque landscapes.
(iii) Others recorded moments of British military triumph.
(iv) There were also some who recorded the cultural diversity of India in ways that tried to show how India was a primitive country.

Local Indian painters produced a vast number of images of local plants and animals, historical buildings and monuments, festivals and processions, trades and crafts, castes and communities. These pictures were eagerly collected by the East India Company officials as they wanted images through which they could understand and remember India. These are known as Company Paintings.

I think some artists wanted to develop a national style of art due to following reasons:
(i) Towards the end of the 19th century, a stronger convention was established between art and nationalism.
(ii) There was a huge popular appeal of mythological stories paintings, related with different scenes from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
(iii) Some Bengali painters and artists felt that a genuine Indian style of painting had to draw inspiration from non-western art and tradition and they tried to capture the spiritual essence of the East.
(iv) There were some Indian artists and painters who felt that artists had to explore real life instead of illustrating ancient books and look for inspiration from living folk art and tribal designs of different regions of India rather than ancient or medieval art forms.

History painting is one of the important categories of imperial art. This type of art reflected the attitudes of the colonial power.
British history paintings in India reflected the attitudes of imperial conquerors in these ways:
(i) British triumph served as rich material for history painters in Britain.
(ii) These painters drew on first hand sketches and accounts of travellers to depict a favourable image of British action in India.
(iii) These paintings were based on the power, victories, supremacy of the British.
(iv) The paintings, named 'Lord Clive meeting Mir Jafar, 'The Storming of Seringapatam' etc depicted British triumphs, not the agression and immoral path they took to win.
These paintings tried to establish the fact that the Britishers were more powerful than Indians.

The scroll painters and potters came to Kalighat and settled there because at that time Calcutta was expanding as a commercial and administrative centre. Calcutta appeared as a place of opportunity where people came to make a new livelihood for them.
Village artists also came and settled here in the hope of new patrons and buyers. They began to paint new themes because values, tastes, social norms and customs were undergoing fast changes after the 1840s. Kalighat painters responded to these changes and produced paintings on social and political themes.

(i) Oil painting European artists brought with them the technique of oil painting. This technique was not familiar to Indian artists.
(ii) Miniature The technique already prevailed in India. India had a tradition of painting portraits in miniature.
(iii) Life-size portrait painting The portrait painting style of the British became immensely popular in India.
(iv) Use of perspective Realism in the arts is the attempt to represent subject matter truthfully. It is the accurate depiction of life forms, perspective and the details of light and colour.
(v) Mural art A mural is any piece of art work painted or applied directly on a wall.

Many of the Indian nawabs who lost their power and status to the British began commissioning imposing oil portraits by the European painters. Their power was undermined by the British officials.
Some nawabs reacted against this interference, others accepted the political and cultural superiority of the British.
Some nawabs hoped to socialise with the British and adopted their styles and tastes. Some nawabs like Muhammad Ali Khan of Arcot even gifted portraits to the King of England and the Directors of the East India Company.

Many of the Indian artists worked as painters in the courts of Indian kings. With the establishment of British power, many of the local courts lost their influence and wealth. It became difficult for the artists to earn a living. So many of them turned to the British. In many courts like Murshidabad encouraged the local miniature artists to absorb the tastes and artistic styles of the British.
The local painters started to produce a vast number of images of local plants, animals, historical buildings and monuments, festivals and processions, trades and crafts, caste and communities.