A Journey through 150 Years

Government College of Art and Craft, Calcutta, the premier art institution of Kolkata, is the pioneer among the few art institutions that can boast of celebrating the one hundred and forty fourth year of excellence in the art of painting and craft education in India.

We follow the methodical tradition of imparting a comprehensive, full time training in different branches of art and craft. Since the inception of Govt. School of Art in 1864, the year it was taken over by the Government, it has prided itself in being one of the most successful art institutions in India.

The journey that started under the guidance of Sir Henry Hover Locke did find at its helm, eminent artists like E.B. Havell, Percy Brown, and later Ramendranath Chakraborty, Mukul Dey and Chintamoni Kar.

Abanindranath Tagore, the key person behind the revival of the Oriental School of painting, had been, for 10 years, the Vice Principal of the institute till 1915.

Rabindranath Tagore stayed here for months and made approx 130 paintings, which were exhibited in the college gallery in 1932.

When Mukul Dey (1928 – 1943) was the Principal, the school started functioning as a co-educational institute. In 1951, the school turned out to be a full-fledged college and came to be known as Government College of Art & Craft, Calcutta (GCAC). The college celebrated its first centenary in 1964 under Chintamoni Kar as the principal, eminent sculptor and a disciple of Sir Henry Moore.

Today, the college takes pride in imparting art-education to aspiring artists in pre-graduate, under-graduate and post-graduate levels. B.F.A. (Bachelor of Fine Arts), a degree with honours with the affiliation of the University of Calcutta (CU) was introduced in 1983, during the tenure of Isha Mohammad, the Vice Principal and Officer in Charge. The post-graduate course with M.V.A. (Master of Visual Art) degree was introduced in 1998, when Biman Bihari Das was the Principal of the College.

In 2003, the College changed its syllabus as per U.G.C. norms and the Ph.D. programme under the C U was started in 2005. In July 2007, GCAC received the permanent affiliation of U.G.C. (Govt. of India) with Grade ‘A’ from NAAC. During its long traverse down two centuries, it has been a witness of the changing art scenario in India.

http://gcac.edu.in/our-college/history/