Rabindranath, Gurudev of Santiniketan Ashrama founded Kala-Bhavana around 1919. The university of Visva-Bharati was established a couple of years after this. Rabindranath gave the study of art the highest priority at this International University. The Poet's Art school differed from the prevalent art schools of India since its inception. The art classes were held in the open air not bound by time defined periods. The relationship between teacher and student was deep and sincere – they were like two members of the same family. Rabindranath gave the charge of this Art-school to Nandalal Bose from Kolkata, one of the best students of Abanindranath Tagore, which is why Kala-Bhavana developed with an added dimension.

From its early years , Rabindranath brought as teacher to Kala-Bhavana Andree Karpeles of Parls and Stella Kramische, the renowned art-historian of Vienna. A little later Margaret Millward joined to teach sculpture. From the very beginning, the art atmosphere was pervaded by ideas from the East and the West. Kala-Bhavana was enriched by the ideas of India and from the West, and on the other hand by the tradition and forms of the East. No other art institute in India had this kind of exposure to the different arts of the world. This manifested in the works of the early artists of Santiniketan; Nandalal's works carry the traditional aspects of Indian art, in Benod Behari's art one may find the influence of Far-Eastern art, whereas in the sculpture of Ramkinkar one finds the presence of western structural style.

Besides the works of these three stalwarts of modern Indian art, one has to mention the works of Sudhir Khastagir, Mahindra Bhushan Gupta and others. Artists of the next generation who made their works independently and contributed to the richness of Indian art would include Prithwish Neogy, Jaya Appaswamy, Dinkar Kowshik and K.G.Subramanyan. We must also mention Satyajit Ray who often said that his short stay at Kala-Bhavana and his interaction with Nandalal paved the way in his world of film – making.

While talking of Kala-Bhavana and Santiniketan, the names of some artists come to mind who , though they were not students, came to Santiniketan as teachers and imbibed the spirit of this place in their works. Among such artists we must mention Somenath Hore, Sarbari Roy Chawdhuri, Sanat Kar, Suhas Roy, Laluprasad Shaw and Jogen Chowdhury. These artists have added a new dimension to the artistic mind of modern India.