<P> By the time of Independence in 1947, several schools of art in India provided access to modern techniques and ideas . Galleries were established to showcase these artists . Modern Indian art typically shows the influence of Western styles, but is often inspired by Indian themes and images . Major artists are beginning to gain international recognition, initially among the Indian diaspora, but also among non-Indian audiences . </P> <P> The Progressive Artists' Group, established shortly after India became independent in 1947, was intended to establish new ways of expressing India in the post-colonial era . Its founder was Francis Newton Souza and S.H. Raza, M.F. Husain and Manishi Dey were early members . It was profoundly influential in changing the idiom of Indian art . Almost all of the major artists of India in the 1950s were associated with the group . Prominent among them were Akbar Padamsee, Sadanand Bakre, Ram Kumar, Tyeb Mehta, K.H. Ara, H.A. Gade and Bal Chabda . In 1950, V.S. Gaitonde, Krishen Khanna and Mohan Samant joined the Group . The group disbanded in 1956 . </P> <P> Other famous painters like Narayan Shridhar Bendre, K.K. Hebbar, K.C.S. Paniker, Sankho Chaudhuri, Antonio Piedade da Cruz, K.G. Subramanyan, Beohar Rammanohar Sinha, Satish Gujral, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Jehangir Sabavala, Sakti Burman, A. Ramachandran, Ganesh Pyne, Nirode Mazumdar, Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh, Jahar Dasgupta, Prokash Karmakar, John Wilkins, Vivan Sundaram, Jogen Chowdhury, Jagdish Swaminathan, Jyoti Bhatt, Bhupen Khakhar, Jeram Patel, Narayanan Ramachandran, Paramjit Singh, Pranab Barua, Dom Martin (the Surrealistic Painter from Goa) and Bijon Choudhuri enriched the art culture of India and they have become the icons of modern Indian art . Women artists like B. Prabha, Shanu Lahiri, Arpita Singh, Anjolie Ela Menon and Lalita Lajmi have made immense contributions to Modern Indian Art and Painting . Art historians like Prof. Rai Anand Krishna have also referred to those works of modern artistes that reflect Indian ethos . Some of the acclaimed contemporary Indian artists include Nagasamy Ramachandran, Jitish Kallat, Atul Dodiya and Geeta Vadhera who has had acclaim in translating complex, Indian spiritual themes onto canvas like Sufi thought, the Upanishads and the Bhagwad Geeta . </P> <P> Indian Art got a boost with the economic liberalization of the country since early 1990s . Artists from various fields now started bringing in varied styles of work . Post liberalization Indian art works not only within the confines of academic traditions but also outside it . Artists have introduced new concepts which have hitherto not been seen in Indian art . Devajyoti Ray has introduced a new genre of art called Pseudorealism . Pseudorealist Art is an original art style that has been developed entirely on the Indian soil . Pseudorealism takes into account the Indian concept of abstraction and uses it to transform regular scenes of Indian life into fantastic images . </P>

Who are the indian artist called the pioneers of secular art of which period and why