ABNINDRANATH TAGORE ( 1871-1951 ) AND BENGAL SCHOOL OF ART.

                                      

    ( The Passing Away of Shahjahan ) 

 

                ( Late Night  Musicians )

                           ( Birth of Sri Krishna )

  

                                    (A portrait ) 

                               (A portrait )

                      ( Siva-Simantini.)

( A portrait)

                               ( Bharat Mata )

ABNINDRANATH TAGORE ( 1871-1951 )  AND BENGAL SCHOOL OF ART.

Abanindranath Tagore was an Indian artist and writer who lived from 1871 to 1951. Tagore was the first Indian artist to garner worldwide recognition and is often referred to as one of the  pioneers of modern  art in India .He founded the principles which formed the Bengal school of art.

Tagore was born in Calcutta to a wealthy and distinguished family. His uncle was the noted Indian poet, musician, artist, and Nobel Prize recipient, Rabindranath Tagore. Both his brother and grandfather were also artists. Tagore began his formal art education when he was just 11 years old at Sanskrit College. When he turned 20 in 1890, he left Sanskrit College to continue his education at the Calcutta School of Art.

In the early years of the century Abanindranath met the famous Japanese artist  Okakura. Okakura taught the Japanese style and forms to him.  In 1903 Yokoyama Taikan and Hishida Shunso visited Calcutta where they interacted with Abanindranath.Taikan taught Abanindranath how to wield the brush with a light touch and of the evocative powers of gestures. He also learnt the Japanese ink painting.  Tagore’s signature “wash technique” is the defining characteristic of the Bengal School approach. With this training, Abanindranath, the painter was established as the creator of a new national vocabulary in art and he helped to regenerate the decadent art and aesthetic scene in India. The Indian Society of Oriental Art was established to promote the Abanindranath-style on the national plane. It was his brush, which first gave convincing proof that the Indian artist had his own contribution to make to the world of painting.His most famous paintings like, The Passing of Shah Jahan, Bharat Mata, Radha Krishna, Birth of Sri Krishna ,Shiva Simtanini  and Omar Khayyam were legendary artworks that not only attracted an international audience but also helped Indians to appreciate their cultural heritage.His close students included Nandalal Bose, Samarendranath Gupta, Kshitindranath Majumdar, AR Chugtai , Surendranath Ganguly, Asit Kumar Haldar, Sarada Ukil, Kalipada Ghoshal , Manishi Dey, Mukul Dey, K. Venkatappa and Ranada Ukil. One can clearly see  Abanindranath's influence in works of Nand Lal Bose and Chugtai.

About his captivating Siva-Simantini,Prof. Rattan Parimoo , eminent artist ,art historian and art critic  says this :- 

"The eyes are half-closed, the upper eyelid is drooping just as in the contemplative faces of the Sarnath Buddha of the Gupta period [. The eyebrows are arched, the slightly pouting lips are pink .The entire face is oval, from the right hand contour of which emanates Uma's wavy hair. She is holding the Shaivite attribute of Naga in her right hand, who has her necklace in its mouth, an activity at which her downcast eyes are glancing. As a result, what could have been just a dead pan face, has been rendered quite lively. The white form over her forehead could be the moon,another Shaivite attribute. Havell had referred to this painting as Siva-Simantini (Siva and the Lady) complimenting Abanindranath for treating Hindu mythology with the imagination and fervor of the great Chola artists. " 

Abanindranath Tagore created Bharat Mata amid the fervor of the anti-colonial Swadeshi movement in Bengal, with an awareness that the image would be used to galvanize early support for anti-colonial resistance . The painting was  originally conceived by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay as “Banga Mata”. It depicts the nationalist icon of the stature of the Goddess, yet it is distinct from any known deity of the Hindu pantheon.Tagore’s Bharat Mata is important both for giving early visual form to this salient political icon and for the ideas the work proffered, on the whole, for the direction of modern art in South Asia. Rising anti-colonial sentiments in the late 19th century had produced a series of debates around the nature and origins of Indian aesthetics.

Abanindranath was with Gurudev Tagore when he visited Kashmir in 1915. Gurudev also helped his nephew Abanindranath Tagore to paint some views in Kashmir ,  especially the paintings depicting Ashoka sitting atop Shankaracharya hill and looking at Hariparbat, Shahjajan in Shalimar garden during night, Chashm e Shahi garden, Nishat garden, Nasim Bagh and some more.  With these paintings and the Balaka series of poems of Gurudev Tagore (written in Kashmir)  ,  Kashmir in different colour was showcased to the Bengali elite for the first time. 

( Avtar Mota )

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