At the beginning of twentieth century, the trend of Indian art took a new direction under the influence of Rabindranath Tagore, Abanindranath Tagore among others. Influenced by growing nationalism of country, Abanindranath initiated revival of traditional Indian Art against the then prevailing trend of blindly imitating the so-called realism of western art. Some prominent members of Bengali intelligentsia had felt the need of an organized platform in order to sustain the momentum of the new art movement.

Thus in 1907, Indian Society of Oriental Art (ISOA) was formed. Among founding members of the Society, there were eminent personalities like Abanindranath, Gaganendranath and Samarendranath Tagore, artist Jamini Prakash Ganguly and art critic O C Ganguly. From the very beginning, the Society made visible impression on the public through diverse programs like lectures and discussions by artists and art critics, and exhibitions displaying Indian and Oriental art. A studio with permanent art gallery was established and art lessons started. The first two teachers were Nandalal Bose and Khitindra Nath Majumdar under supervision of Abanindranath Tagore and Gaganendranath Tagore.

In 1920, ISOA brought out a quarterly art journal called “Rupam” under the editorship of O. C Ganguly which was published till 1931. Thereafter a new annual journal was published in 1933 under the joint editorship of Abanindranath Tagore and Stella Kramrisch. This journal was published for two decades till 1953 and was revived again in 1968 and publication could be continued till 2005.