The Progressive Artists Group was formed in 1947 and worked in the immediate aftermath of Indian independence and the communal partition.
As the nation grappled with its new borders and newly established democracy, this modern group of artists sought to distance themselves from the nationalist Bengal School of Art by embracing a more international perspective.
Approaching their art from considerably different backgrounds and styles, they shared a concern for formal qualities, similar to those found in European Modernism, and advocated for free expression of content and technique.
Along with theater artists and writers, visual artists too merged with the former under the banner of “progressive” and identified with Marxism. They had leftist leanings and the title “Progressive” associated them with the Progressive Writers’ Movement, which was started by communist writers and fellow travelers at a conference held in 1936.
Sauce:
https://www.artsy.net/gene/progressive-artists-movement
http://www.eikowa.com/blog/progressive-artists-group-pag-the-sextet-of-artists-that-incited-an-artistic-revolution-in-post-independence-india
