Modern Indian painting is a neat blending of diverse influences, indigenous and exotic, and its exponents include Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906), Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951),
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Gaganendranath Tagore (1867-1938), Jamini Roy (1887-1972), Rabindranth Tagore (1861-1941) and Nandalal Bose (1882-1968), just to mention a few. While Ravi Varma had used elements of British academic training for his techniques and employed the inexhaustible themes from the Indian epics, scriptures and other religious texts for his panorama of paintings, the renowned artists of Bengal sought sources of inspiration from various neglected traditional arts in India.
In the late 1930s, the European post-impressionists influenced the art of Amrita Sher-Gil (1912-41) which earned kudos from critics in Bombay (now Mumbai) and elsewhere. Her masterpiece A Group of Three Girls evoked rave reviews and all-round praise from different quarters. The Progressive Artists Group lent a great momentum to the contemporary art and saw the emergence of new titans in creative genius like F. N. Souza (b. 1924), S. H. Raza (b. 1922), K. H. Ara (1913-85) and M. F. Husain (b.1915). Husain fused the Basholi spirit of color with a spontaneous brush stroke, yet with a calligraphic discipline. Further, sources of inspiration ranging from folk art forms, music, dance, popular cinema (actress Madhuri Dixit was one of his models) and Indian sculpture, formed the basis of his eternal quest to create.