Ironically the very westernisation that the Kalighat painters felt eroded Bengali society eventually affected the artists themselves, and this popular style of Indian painting disappeared at the beginning of the 20th century to be replaced by newly invented photography and a new search for Indian identity.

This identity developed through the Neo-Bengal School of Art and is associated with various artists especially the Tagore family. It was the artistic imagination in particular of the cartoonist Gaganendranath Tagore, nephew of the poet Rabindranath Tagore, who also captured the double standards of a colonised society.

In a similar critique to that of the popular Kalighat painters, Gaganendranath's highly acclaimed series of cartoon illustrations includes 'Adbhut Lok', or 'Realm of the Absurd' (1917). This illustration highlights the hypocritical role of the overweight four-armed Brahmin priest; who rather than maintaining his status of priestly purity, is seated on the floor eating a plate of meat, with a woman in his arms and a bottle of alcohol by his side.

The Indian Collection at the Victoria and Albert museum has recently acquired two contemporary Bengali scroll paintings by the male artist, Gurupada Chitrakar. One scroll, containing seven registers, shows the artist's interpretation of the Gujarati earthquake which stuck this region of Western India on 26 January 2001. This abstract image depicts an upside-down world in destruction and disorder, with an uprooted tree entwined by a snake, a white cow and human decay, all contained within a scrolling floral border of yellow flowers and green leaves.

The second complimentary Bengali scroll painting depicts an abstract interpretation of the destruction of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya by Hindu extremists on 6 December 1992. The image is of a Hindu male, who appears to be nailed to a cross, evoking religious parallels with Christian imagery. Other registers include the artist's chronological narrative of events between opposing religious groups.

In both scroll paintings, the portraits are drawn with bold black strokes and there is a colourful palette of yellow and blue against a plain background. These features show the continued influences of the popular Kalighat painters. The scroll paintings, created by the original 19th century Patua painters or 'story tellers' prior to their migration to Calcutta would be read as a visual narrative by village audiences.

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