PRINTING ART

The Printing Art form played an immense role in popularizing paintings and fine arts in Calcutta. Thomas and William Daniel brought out their book of printed photographs in Calcutta between 1768 - 1788. That was the beginning. Soon printing presses had a mushroom growth in the city for printing books and photographs. The Bengali workers who were employed in these printing houses, learnt the art of 'engraving' from their British counterparts. Ram Chandra Roy is believed to be the first Bengali technician to have mastered the art of engraving. His remarkable work of engraving was Bharat Chandra Roy's 'Annada Mangal' which was incidentally the first book of printed photographs in the mentioned art form. Two years later, 'Sangeet Taranga' was published in metallic sheets by the 'etching' method. 'Etching' implies reproduction of pictures by engraving metal plate with acid especially in order to print copies. Madhav Chandra Das, the renowned engraving artiste, had etched the different 'ragas'. From the second half of the 19th century, the erstwhile Sutanuti zone of Calcutta, which was popularly known as 'Bat Tala', became the center of printing art in Calcutta.
Besides engraving on the metallic and wooden plates, the Calcutta Art College introduced the 'Lithography' course. Lithography is the process of printing from stone or metal surface so treated that ink adheres only to the design to be printed. Annada Prasad Bagchi and his followers established a 'Litho Press' in 1876. It was named 'Calcutta Art Studio'. A few similar presses contributed tremendously to the development of art and paintings in Calcutta. However, the advanced methods of printing photos which showed the mythological Hindu Gods and Goddesses, created a sensation in Calcutta. Bama Charan Bandopaddhaya was one of those illustrious painters whose printed photos came from England. But it was Raja Ravi Verma, the renowned artiste from Kerala who captivated the hearts of millions of Bengalis. He made oil-paintings on canvas in the typical European style and tradition. His mythological paintings had a profound influence on the Bengali psyche when they came out in printed form.