General Knowledge · Class 7 · Culture, art and sport
Art and great painters
Some of the oldest paintings in India were made on rock walls more than 10,000 years ago. What did those first artists paint?
Small test at the end: scroll down to the end of this page for five short questions that check what you have learnt. Tap an answer, then press Check answer. Go to the questions ↓
Jump to: Read first · Try it away from the screen · Check it yourself · Check yourself · For teachers
Read first
6 facts. The questions below make you use them, not just remember them.
- The rock shelters of Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh have paintings of animals, hunters and dancers. Some are more than 10,000 years old.
- The Ajanta caves in Maharashtra have wall paintings about 1,500 to 2,000 years old that tell stories from the life of the Buddha.
- Madhubani (Mithila) painting comes from Bihar. It was painted by women on the walls of homes and is now also done on paper and cloth, with bold lines and natural colours.
- Raja Ravi Varma painted gods, goddesses and heroes in a life-like style in the 1800s. Cheap printed copies of his work reached ordinary homes across India.
- Leonardo da Vinci of Italy painted the Mona Lisa about 500 years ago. It hangs in the Louvre museum in Paris.
- Painters mix colours: red, yellow and blue paints can be mixed to make many others, such as green, orange and purple.
Offline
Try it away from the screen
Draw a Madhubani-style border: a double line with a pattern of fish, leaves or flowers between the lines. Fill every space, as Mithila artists do.
Make it on paper. Keep it with you. Nothing to upload.
Check it yourself
Online, many "famous paintings" are fakes or copies, and quotes are often wrongly linked to artists. Check a museum's own website, which names the artist, year and where the painting is kept.
Check yourself
Five questions about what this page teaches. Choose an answer and press Check answer, or open "See the answer and why". Nothing is saved or sent: your choices stay on this screen and disappear when you leave or reload the page.
How do you want to answer? You choose, and you can change at any time.
See the answer and why
- A. Bihar Correct. Yes. It comes from the Mithila region of Bihar.
- B. Gujarat Not this one. Gujarat has its own folk arts, but Madhubani is from Bihar.
- C. Odisha Not this one. Odisha is known for Pattachitra painting.
- D. Rajasthan Not this one. Rajasthan is known for miniature paintings and phad scrolls.
See the answer and why
- A. The government gave them away free Not this one. His prints were sold cheaply, not given by the government.
- B. He painted on the walls of every village himself, travelling all over India Not this one. No one person could paint every village. Printing spread his work.
- C. Cheap printed copies were made Correct. Yes. He set up a printing press so ordinary families could buy prints.
- D. They were shown on television Not this one. Television came long after his time.
See the answer and why
- A. Vincent van Gogh Not this one. Van Gogh painted The Starry Night, about 400 years later.
- B. Raja Ravi Varma Not this one. Ravi Varma was an Indian painter of the 1800s.
- C. Pablo Picasso Not this one. Picasso was a 20th-century Spanish painter.
- D. Leonardo da Vinci Correct. Yes. He painted it about 500 years ago.
See the answer and why
- A. Orange Not this one. Orange comes from mixing red and yellow.
- B. Green Correct. Yes. Blue and yellow make green.
- C. Purple Not this one. Purple comes from mixing red and blue.
- D. Brown Not this one. Brown usually comes from mixing all three main colours.
See the answer and why
- A. 105 Not this one. That adds 15 instead of dividing.
- B. 5 Not this one. Check: 5 fish × 15 cm is only 75 cm.
- C. 6 Correct. Yes. 90 ÷ 15 = 6 fish.
- D. 75 Not this one. That takes away 15 instead of dividing.
For teachers and grown-upsWhere the facts come from, and how to use this round.
Sources and notes
- Bhimbetka and Ajanta are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Madhubani painting has a Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
- Paint mixing (red, yellow, blue) differs from light mixing (red, green, blue); the next science classes will meet the second.