By : Satyaki Paul
The date August 07, 2021 marks the 150th birth anniversary of eminent Bengali artist Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951). He was the nephew of Rabindranath Tagore, and was the first major supporter of swadeshi values in Indian art.So, in this context celebrations started under the banner of “Abanindranath at 150: Bichitra Revisited”, which is being organised cooperatively by Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata, and DAG. The year-long celebration will be carried out through digital projects, films, performances and workshops by contemporary artists who are re-engaging with his oeuvre and the spirit of the Bichitra Studio.
Abanindranath Tagore took birth in a family of Tagores (also colloquially known as Thakurs in Bengali) of Jorasanko in Kolkata district in 1871. He started studying in Sanskrit College in Kolkata. And, after his marriage with Suhashini Devi, he left the College and joined St. Xavier’s College. In due course, he received training in European and Academic style from European artists such as Olinto Ghilardi and Charles Palmer. Nevertheless, during the last decade of the 19th century, he developed anaversion for European naturalism (which represented things closer to the way one sees them—inspired by the principles of natural science).He inclined towards painting images with historic or literary allusions. He drew inspiration from Mughal miniatures and paintings.Additionally, he was inspired from the ideas of Japanese philosophers such as Okakura Kakuzo and Yokoyama Taikan.
Some of his most world-renowned works include: Bharat Mata (1905), The Passing of Shah Jahan (1900), My Mother (1912–13), Fairyland illustration (1913), Ganesh Janani (1908) and many more. Furthermore, he is also regarded as a talented and skilfulBengali writer. But a significant portion of his literary works were meant for children.Some of his books are“BuroAngla”, “KhirerPutul” and “Rajkahini”,etc. These were some of the best examples of Bengali children’s literature.
Aside from literary and artistic contributions, he also took part in the freedom movement of India. In end of the 19thcentury, a new art movement (Bengal school of painting) emerged which received its primary stimulus from the budding nationalism in India.In Bengal, a new set of nationalist artists gathered emerged due to the influence Abanindranath Tagore.He was possibly the first chiefproponent of an artistic idiom that sought to modernise the Mughal and the Rajput styles in order to counter the influence of Western models of art under the colonial rule of British Raj. Nonetheless,several paintings of this new trend principally focused on themes of Indian mythology and cultural heritage, they are significant sources for studying the modern art movement in India and for the art historians.He passed away on May 7, 1951 in Kolkata (erstwhile Calcutta) and there is a huge gap about his own personal life in the Bengali literature.
Yet, his unique interpretation of swadeshi themes created a new awakening and heralded a revival of Indian art. After Abanindranath Tagore’s death, his son Alokendranath Tagore (1876-1936) got inheritance of all his paintings. And, in due course Alokendranath gave away all of his paintings to Rabindra Bharati Trust Society. In current context, Victoria Memorial Hall is the custodian of the Rabindra Bharati Society collection. In this context, some of the scholars such as Kalpathi Ganpathi Subramanyan and Raman Siva Kumar have critiqued that the paintings are kept hidden from the world in a dire state. And, these needs to be restored to its true glory and to be brought into the ambit of public view through museums. But decades have passed and the current move of digital exhibition (through Zoom App) is a small step towards such direction.