Abanindranath Tagore
Encyclopedia
Abanindranath Tagore (7 August 1871 – 5 December 1951) was the principal artist of the Bengal school
and the first major exponent of swadeshi values in Indian art. He was also a noted writer, particularly for children. Popularly known as 'Aban Thakur', his books Rajkahini, Budo Angla, Nalak, and Ksheerer Putul are landmarks in Bangla children's literature.
Tagore sought to modernize Moghul and Rajput
styles in order to counter the influence of Western
models of art, as taught in Art Schools under the British Raj
. Such was the success of Tagore's work that it was eventually accepted and promoted as a national Indian style within British art institutions.
, Calcutta, British India
to Gunendranath Tagore. His grandfather was Girindranath Tagore,the second son of "Prince' Dwarkanath Tagore. He is a member of the distinguished Tagore family
, and a nephew of the poet Rabindranath Tagore
. His grandfather and his elder brother Gaganendranath Tagore
were also artists.
Tagore learned art when studying at Sanskrit College
in the 1880s. In 1889 he married Suhasini Devi, daughter of Bhujagendra Bhusan Chatterjee, a descendant of Prasanna Coomar Tagore
. At this time he left the Sanskrit College after nine years of study and studied English as a special student at St. Xavier's College
, which he attended for about a year and a half.
He had a sister Sunayani Devi.
, studying in the traditional European academic
manner, learning the full range of techniques, but with a particular interest in watercolour. At this time he began to come under the influence of Mughal art, making a number of works based on the life of Krishna
in a Mughal-influenced style. After meeting E.B. Havell, Tagore worked with him to revitalise and redefine art teaching at the Calcutta School of art, a project also supported by his brother Gaganendranath, who set up the Indian Society of Oriental Art.
's Aestheticism. Partly for this reason many British arts administrators were sympathetic to such ideas, especially as Hindu
philosophy was becoming increasingly influential in the West following the spread of the Theosophy
movement. Tagore believed that Indian traditions could be adapted to express these new values, and to promote a progressive Indian national culture.
With the success of Tagore's ideas, he came into contact with other Asian
artists whose work was comparable to his own. In his later work, he began to incorporate elements of Chinese and Japanese
calligraphic
traditions into his art, seeking to construct a model for a modern pan-Asian
artistic tradition which would merge the common aspects of Eastern spiritual and artistic culture.
His close students included Nandalal Bose
, Kalipada Ghoshal, Surendranath Ganguly, Asit Kumar Haldar
, Sarada Ukil, Kshitindranath Majumdar, Samarendranath Gupta, Mukul Dey
, Manishi Dey
, K. Venkatappa, Jamini Roy
, and Ranada Ukil.
For Abanindranath, the house he grew up in (5 Dwarakanath Tagore Lane) and its companion house (6 Dwarakanath Tagore Lane) connected two cultural worlds -- 'white town' (where the British colonizers lived) and 'black town' (where the natives lived). According to architectural historian Swati Chattopadhay, Abanindranath "used the Bengali meaning of the word, Jorasanko -- 'double bridge' to develop this idea in the form of a mythical map of the city. The map is, indeed, not of Calcutta, but an imaginary city, Halisahar, and is the central guide in a children's story Putur Boi (Putu's Book). The nineteenth-century place names of Calcutta, however, appear on this map, thus suggesting we read this imaginary city with the colonial city as a frame of reference. The map uses the structure of a board game—golokdham—and shows a city divided along a main artery; on one side a lion-gate leads to the Lal-Dighi in the middle of which is the 'white island.'
Abanindranath maintained throughout his life a long friendship with the London-based artist, author, and eventual president of London's Royal College of Art
William Rothenstein
. Arriving in the autumn of 1910, Rothenstein spent almost a year surveying India's cultural and religious sites, including the ancient Buddhist caves of Ajanta; the Jain carvings of Gwalior
; and the Hindu panoply of Benares
. He ended up in Calcutta
, where he drew and painted with Abanindranath and his students, attempting to absorb elements of Bengal School
style into his own practice.
However limited Rothenstein's experiments with the styles of early Modernist Indian painting were, the friendship between him and Abanindranath ushered in a crucial cultural event. This was Rabindranath Tagore
's soujourn at Rothenstein's London home, which led to the publication of the English language version of Gitanjali
and the subsequent award to Rabindranath in 1913 of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
The publication of Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali
in English brought the Tagore family international renown, which helped to make Abanindranath's artistic projects better known in the west.
Bengal school of art
The Bengal School of Art was a style of art that flourished in India during the British Raj in the early 20th century. It was associated with Indian nationalism, but was also promoted and supported by British arts administrators.-History:...
and the first major exponent of swadeshi values in Indian art. He was also a noted writer, particularly for children. Popularly known as 'Aban Thakur', his books Rajkahini, Budo Angla, Nalak, and Ksheerer Putul are landmarks in Bangla children's literature.
Tagore sought to modernize Moghul and Rajput
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...
styles in order to counter the influence of Western
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
models of art, as taught in Art Schools under the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
. Such was the success of Tagore's work that it was eventually accepted and promoted as a national Indian style within British art institutions.
Personal life and background
Abanindranath Tagore was born in JorasankoJorasanko
Jorasanko is a neighbourhood in north Kolkata. It is so called because of the two wooden or bamboo bridges that spanned a small stream at this point.-History:...
, Calcutta, British India
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
to Gunendranath Tagore. His grandfather was Girindranath Tagore,the second son of "Prince' Dwarkanath Tagore. He is a member of the distinguished Tagore family
Tagore family
The Tagore family, with over three hundred years of history, has been one of the leading families of Kolkata, and is regarded as a key influence during the Bengal Renaissance...
, and a nephew of the poet Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
. His grandfather and his elder brother Gaganendranath Tagore
Gaganendranath Tagore
See Tagore for disambiguationGaganendranath Tagore was an Indian painter and cartoonist of the Bengal school. He belongs to the Tagore family and was born at Jorasanko.-Early life:Gaganendranath Tagore was born in Calcutta...
were also artists.
Tagore learned art when studying at Sanskrit College
Sanskrit College
Sanskrit College is a specialized state-government administered liberal arts college offering an undergraduate degree in Sanskrit language, Pali language, linguistics, and ancient Indian and world history. It is one of the affiliated colleges of the University of Calcutta. Founded on 1 January...
in the 1880s. In 1889 he married Suhasini Devi, daughter of Bhujagendra Bhusan Chatterjee, a descendant of Prasanna Coomar Tagore
Prasanna Coomar Tagore
See Tagore for disambiguationPrasanna Coomar Tagore was son of Gopi Mohan Tagore, one of the founders of Hindu College. He belonged to the Pathuriaghata branch of the Tagore family and was one of the leaders of the conservative branch of Hindu society...
. At this time he left the Sanskrit College after nine years of study and studied English as a special student at St. Xavier's College
St. Xavier's College, Calcutta
St. Xavier's College is located in Kolkata, India, and is named after St. Francis Xavier, a Jesuit saint of the 16th century, who travelled to India. It is an autonomous college affiliated to the University of Calcutta. It gained autonomy in July 2006, thus becoming the first autonomous college of...
, which he attended for about a year and a half.
He had a sister Sunayani Devi.
Early days
In the early 1890s several illustrations were published in Sadhana magazine, and in Chitrangada, and other works by Rabindranath Tagore. He also illustrated his own books. About the year 1897 he took lessons from the Vice-Principal of the Government School of ArtGovernment College of Art & Craft, Kolkata
The Government College of Art & Craft in Kolkata is one of the oldest Art colleges in India. It was founded on August 16, 1854 at Garanhata, Chitpur, "with the purpose of establishing an institution for teaching the youth of all classes, industrial art based on scientific methods." as the School of...
, studying in the traditional European academic
Academic art
Academic art is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. Specifically, academic art is the art and artists influenced by the standards of the French Académie des Beaux-Arts, which practiced under the movements of Neoclassicism and Romanticism,...
manner, learning the full range of techniques, but with a particular interest in watercolour. At this time he began to come under the influence of Mughal art, making a number of works based on the life of Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
in a Mughal-influenced style. After meeting E.B. Havell, Tagore worked with him to revitalise and redefine art teaching at the Calcutta School of art, a project also supported by his brother Gaganendranath, who set up the Indian Society of Oriental Art.
Later career
Abanindranath Tagore believed that Western art was "materialistic" in character, and that India needed to return to its own traditions in order to recover spiritual values. Despite its Indocentric nationalism, this view was already commonplace within British art of the time, stemming from the ideas of the Pre-Raphaelites. Tagore's work also shows the influence of WhistlerJames McNeill Whistler
James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American-born, British-based artist. Averse to sentimentality and moral allusion in painting, he was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake". His famous signature for his paintings was in the shape of a stylized butterfly possessing a long stinger...
's Aestheticism. Partly for this reason many British arts administrators were sympathetic to such ideas, especially as Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
philosophy was becoming increasingly influential in the West following the spread of the Theosophy
Theosophy
Theosophy, in its modern presentation, is a spiritual philosophy developed since the late 19th century. Its major themes were originally described mainly by Helena Blavatsky , co-founder of the Theosophical Society...
movement. Tagore believed that Indian traditions could be adapted to express these new values, and to promote a progressive Indian national culture.
With the success of Tagore's ideas, he came into contact with other Asian
Asian people
Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
artists whose work was comparable to his own. In his later work, he began to incorporate elements of Chinese and Japanese
Japanese calligraphy
is a form of calligraphy, or artistic writing, of the Japanese language. For a long time, the most esteemed calligrapher in Japan had been Wang Xizhi, a Chinese calligrapher in the 4th century but after the invention of Hiragana and Katakana, the Japanese unique syllabaries, the distinctive...
calligraphic
Calligraphy
Calligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...
traditions into his art, seeking to construct a model for a modern pan-Asian
Pan-Asianism
Pan-Asianism is an ideology or a movement that Asian nations unite and solidify and create a continental identity to defeat the designs of the Western nations to perpetuate hegemony.-Japanese Asianism:...
artistic tradition which would merge the common aspects of Eastern spiritual and artistic culture.
His close students included Nandalal Bose
Nandalal Bose
Nandalal Bose was a notable Indian painter of Bengal school of art. A pupil of Abanindranath Tagore, Bose was known for "Indian style" of painting. He became the principal of Kala Bhawan, Shanti Niketan in 1922...
, Kalipada Ghoshal, Surendranath Ganguly, Asit Kumar Haldar
Asit Kumar Haldar
Asit Kumar Haldar was an Indian painter and an assistant of Rabindranath Tagore at Shantiniketan. He was one of the major artists of the Bengal renaissance.-Early life:...
, Sarada Ukil, Kshitindranath Majumdar, Samarendranath Gupta, Mukul Dey
Mukul Dey
Mukul Chandra Dey was a student of Rabindranath Tagore's Santiniketan. He is considered as a pioneer of drypoint-etching in India....
, Manishi Dey
Manishi Dey
Manishi Dey was an Indian painter of the Bengal school of art. He was born in Dhaka on 22. September 1909 and died 1966 in Kolkata. He was the younger brother of Mukul Dey, a pioneering Indian teacher and engraver....
, K. Venkatappa, Jamini Roy
Jamini Roy
-Early life:Jamini Roy was born in 1887 into a middle-class family of land-owners in a village called Beliatore in the District of Bankura in Bengal .When he was sixteen he was sent to study at the Government School of Art in Calcutta...
, and Ranada Ukil.
For Abanindranath, the house he grew up in (5 Dwarakanath Tagore Lane) and its companion house (6 Dwarakanath Tagore Lane) connected two cultural worlds -- 'white town' (where the British colonizers lived) and 'black town' (where the natives lived). According to architectural historian Swati Chattopadhay, Abanindranath "used the Bengali meaning of the word, Jorasanko -- 'double bridge' to develop this idea in the form of a mythical map of the city. The map is, indeed, not of Calcutta, but an imaginary city, Halisahar, and is the central guide in a children's story Putur Boi (Putu's Book). The nineteenth-century place names of Calcutta, however, appear on this map, thus suggesting we read this imaginary city with the colonial city as a frame of reference. The map uses the structure of a board game—golokdham—and shows a city divided along a main artery; on one side a lion-gate leads to the Lal-Dighi in the middle of which is the 'white island.'
Abanindranath maintained throughout his life a long friendship with the London-based artist, author, and eventual president of London's Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
William Rothenstein
William Rothenstein
Sir William Rothenstein was an English painter, draughtsman and writer on art.-Life and work:William Rothenstein was born into a German-Jewish family in Bradford, West Yorkshire. His father, Moritz, emigrated from Germany in 1859 to work in Bradford's burgeoning textile industry...
. Arriving in the autumn of 1910, Rothenstein spent almost a year surveying India's cultural and religious sites, including the ancient Buddhist caves of Ajanta; the Jain carvings of Gwalior
Gwalior Fort
ċċċċċt̪--122.177.251.15 13:02, 20 November 2011 --122.177.251.15 13:02, 20 November 2011 --122.177.251.15 13:02, 20 November 2011 Gwalior Fort in Gwalior, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, stands on an isolated rock, overlooking the Gwalior town, and contains a number of historic...
; and the Hindu panoply of Benares
Varanasi
-Etymology:The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, for the old city lies in the north shores of the Ganga bounded by its two tributaries, the Varuna and the Asi, with the Ganges being to its south...
. He ended up in Calcutta
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, where he drew and painted with Abanindranath and his students, attempting to absorb elements of Bengal School
Bengal school of art
The Bengal School of Art was a style of art that flourished in India during the British Raj in the early 20th century. It was associated with Indian nationalism, but was also promoted and supported by British arts administrators.-History:...
style into his own practice.
However limited Rothenstein's experiments with the styles of early Modernist Indian painting were, the friendship between him and Abanindranath ushered in a crucial cultural event. This was Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
's soujourn at Rothenstein's London home, which led to the publication of the English language version of Gitanjali
Gitanjali
Gitanjali is a collection of 103 English poems, largely translations, of the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore.This volume became very famous in the West, and was widely translated....
and the subsequent award to Rabindranath in 1913 of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
The publication of Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali
Gitanjali
Gitanjali is a collection of 103 English poems, largely translations, of the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore.This volume became very famous in the West, and was widely translated....
in English brought the Tagore family international renown, which helped to make Abanindranath's artistic projects better known in the west.
External links
- Biography (Calcuttaweb.com)
- Hindu School,Kolkata
- Mukul Dey Archives, Santiniketan, India
- Abanindranath Tagore -- A Survey of the Master’s Life and Work
- Dolls by Abanindranath Tagore
- Which Way Indian Art? by Mukul Dey
- An Artist Remembered by Satyasri Ukil
- Kokka and the Early Neo-Bengal School Masters by Satyasri Ukil
- The Alternate Nation of Abanindranath Tagore - a book dealing with the artist and his art