This extremely informative article on Master Abanindranath
Tagore, written by his disciple Mukul Dey, is reprinted from ‘Abanindra
Number, The Visva-Bharati Quarterly, May – Oct. 1942’.
 Recently (December 2004) there was a baseless controversy in Ananda Bazar Patrika, about Abanindranath Tagore's "Buro-Angla". One Bengali scholar from Sweden, Ms Chhanda Chakraborty had pointed out that Tagore had taken the story from Selma Lagerlof's fairy tale Adentures of Nils without due credit to its author. Soumen Paul of Calcutta has pointed out that the allegation is baseless and has sent the First Edition Cover and publisher's note of "Buro-Angla" which is displayed here.
Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951), was the first modern Indian
artist to have successfully inculcated amongst his band of
illustrious students a sense of belonging and allegiance to
the rich tradition of Indian cultural heritage.
During the high-noon of modern Indian cultural renaissance,
it was this band of neo-Bengal School artists who headed most
of the important art institutions in our country.
Though many of the so-called Indian art pundits have termed
Abanindranath merely a “revivalist”, this article
shows him in a different light.
Also, Abanindranath Tagore's article 'Dolls'
published in Visva-Bharati Quarterly, New Series, Vol. I,
Part I, May-July, 1935 illuminates his deep concern for the
traditional Indian craft forms which are more often than not
neglected by the Indian art pundits.
A set of most rare polychrome reproductions and images of
brush and ink drawings by the Master is included in the web
page from Mukul Dey Archives’ collection to illustrate
this versatile artist.
|
Abanindranath
Tagore
A Survey of the Master’s
Life and Work
by Mukul Dey
Water colour wash-painting by
Abanindranath Tagore. |
Dr. Abanindranath Tagore, C. I. E., the famous artist of modern
India, was born in Calcutta on August 7, 1871, at the Jorasanko
residence
of the Tagore family, 5, Dwarkanath Tagore Lane. The day happened
to be Janmastami, the birthday of Sri Krishna. He is the youngest
son of the late Gunendranath Tagore and grandson of Girindranath
Tagore, the second son of Prince Dwarkanath Tagore. His eldest
brother Gaganendranath was also an artist of repute, and the next
brother
is Samarendranath Tagore who is of a studious and retiring disposition.
| Girindranath, Abanindranath's grandfather, was himself a
painter of considerable merit and used to paint portraits and
landscapes after the European style. |
The history of this branch of the Tagore family
shows a hereditary inclination towards art, so that the present
members of this
family had the advantage of living in an atmosphere of culture.Girindranath,
Abanindranath's grandfather, was himself a painter of considerable
merit and used to paint portraits and landscapes
after the European style.He made
copies of the oil paintings in the Belgachia Garden House gallery.
He
had for his collaborator, Dr. Gouri Sankar, the first
Indian painter in oils of note. Girindranath was not only a
painter but a dramatist and musician as well. He composed many
songs
and jatra plays. The well-known Bengali poet Iswar Chandra Gupta
was
his contemporary and friend.
It was a favourite pastime with Girindranath
to sail out in his boat on the Ganges when the sky was overcast
with clouds and a
storm was threatening, to the accompaniment of music with drums.
Girindranath was a great friend of Radha Prosad Roy, the eldest
son of Raja Ram Mohun Roy.
| In the year 1864, Gunendranath and his cousin Jyotirindranath,
an elder brother of Poet Rabindranath, were the earliest students
of the Art School at Bowbazar |
In the year 1864, Gunendranath and his cousin Jyotirindranath, an
elder brother of Poet Rabindranath, were the earliest students of
the Art School at Bowbazar where Gunendranath studied art for two
or three years. This School was started in 1854 as a private enterprise
by a number of Indian and European gentlemen who formed themselves
into a society under the name of the Industrial Art Society. Their
institution was known as the School of Industrial Art during the
time of Dr. Rajendra Lal Mitter. This was afterwards turned into
the Government School of Art, Calcutta, when Lord Northbrook was
the Governor-General of India. Lord Northbrook added an Art Gallery
to the school about the same time.
Amongst many others, such eminent men as Dr. Rajendra Lal Mitter,
Maharajah Sir Jotindra Mohan Tagore, Mr. Justice Pratt were members
of this Society. The School was first situated (1854-1855) at a
house in Jorasanko (now the residence of the Mullick family) and
in turn moved (1856-1858) to the premises in Colootola (now the
Medical College Eye Infirmary), to Sealdah (1859-1863 ) and finally
to Baithak-khana, Bowbazar (1864-1892).
Water colour wash-painting by Abanindranath Tagore. |
Like Girindranath, his son Gunendranath was also a man of varied
talents. He took a keen interest in photography, botany, gardening,
as well as in zoological and other scientific studies. He used
to send flowers grown by him to different exhibitions and was the
recipient of several prizes. He helped the well-known florist,
S. P. Chatterji, with Rs. 500/- to start a nursery of flowers.
He was a life member of the Agri-Horticultural Society established
at Alipore and a member of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal.
He was very fond of dramatic performances.
This will give an idea
of the environment in which the two artist brothers, Abanindranath
and Gaganendranath, were brought up. When
Abanindranath was about five years old his father sent him to the
Normal School, then situated on the site of Mr. Haren Sil's house
in Chitpore Road, Jorasanko. He studied there for about two or
three years. One day his English teacher pronounced "pudding" as "padding",
and when Abanindranath pointed out the mistake, as he had puddings
for dinner every night, his teacher flew into a rage, flogged him
severely and tied him up with the punkha rope to the school bench.
He was left thus confined till the school was over at 4 o'clock,
when he unfastened the rope and ran home. This kind of punishment
annoyed his father very much and Abanindranath's connection with
the Normal School was thereupon ended.
| After leaving the Normal School, Abanindranath made use of
his father's paint-box to paint rural scenes with cottages
and palm trees. |
One of the hobbies of Abanindranath's father was to make architectural
plans and sketches in colour. After leaving the Normal School,
Abanindranath made use of his father's paint-box to paint rural scenes
with cottages and palm
trees. He gradually acquired considerable skill in drawing similar
interesting pictures with his father's red and blue and other coloured
pencils. He was then about nine years of age.
| This haunted house served to stimulate the boy Abanindranath's
artistic faculties. |
Brush & ink study of a Vaishnava Guru by Abanindranath Tagore. |
At this time there came a change, in the household affairs of
Gunendranath Tagore. The whole family moved to a garden house at
Champdani on the river Ganges. The atmosphere here was quite different
from that of Calcutta. It was an old rambling house reputed to
be haunted and standing on extensive grounds which were originally
inhabited by robbers and men of ill fame, and stood close to the
French territory of Chandernagore.
The park attached to the house
spread over nearly 100 bighas of land and was strewn with bones
and skulls.
This haunted house served to stimulate the boy Abanindranath's
artistic faculties.In the park there were peacocks, cranes and
many other
kinds of birds; and deer and other animals freely roamed about in
it.
In
the morning the grounds remained strewn with the feathers of various
kinds of rare and beautiful ducks which had been devoured at night
by jackals.
| The house itself was like a museum stored with artistic vases,
carpets, screens and other antique furniture, of diverse colours
and designs which left a deep impression on the mind of the
young artist. . |
The house itself was like a museum stored with artistic vases, carpets,
screens and other antique furniture, of diverse colours and designs
which left a deep impression on the mind of the young artist.
Abanindranath
used to make free use of his father's pencils and brushes as we have
already seen, and
here the animals and birds
served as living models, while the vases and carpets offered him
many kinds of designs and colour combinations.
| From this garden house Abanindranath used to see the village
maidens returning from the Ganges with their pitchers full
of water and all the other usual sights to be seen in typical
Bengali villages. Thus at the early age of nine the love of
nature was implanted in him. |
From this garden house Abanindranath used
to see the village maidens returning from the Ganges with their
pitchers full of water and all the other usual sights to be seen
in typical Bengali villages. Thus at the early age of nine the
love of nature was implanted in him. On seeing his sketches one
of his uncles, Nilkamal Mukerji, was so pleased that he presented
him with a drawing-slate
of ground
glass and some coloured pictures for him to copy. All this gave
him encouragement and helped his talents to grow. Sometimes he
embroidered a tapestry piece and at other times he would with his
bare fingers shape into being figures of Kartika, Ganesa and other
Pauranic gods and goddesses out of thick flour-paste. But the house
and gardens which were the main source of his artistic inspiration
were also the scene of his first severe bereavement. Here his beloved
father died when Abanindranath was only ten years of age.
| ... his guardians accordingly sent him to the Sanskrit College.
While studying here he composed a hymn on Saraswati, the Goddess
of Learning and secured the first prize. He also received many
Sanskrit books as prizes. |
After this
bereavement the Tagore family returned by boat to their Jorasanko
house. The three young brothers' appointed guardians Joggesh
Gangooly and Nilkamal Mukerji
henceforth looked after the boys.
Abanindranath's
mother desired once more to give him an ordinary school education
and his guardians accordingly sent him to the Sanskrit College.
While studying here he composed a hymn on Saraswati, the Goddess
of Learning and secured the first prize. He also received many
Sanskrit books as prizes
There was no drawing class in the school but,
along with his classical studies, Abanindranath began to write
Bengali verses, illustrating them with pictures of dilapidated
temples, moonlight scenes, etc.
| While still at the Sanskrit College (1881-1890) Abanindranath
took a few lessons in Art from his class-mate, Anukul Chatterjee
of Bhawanipur... |
‘Black Girl’ a very famous Water colour wash-painting by Abanindranath Tagore. |
While still at the Sanskrit College (1881-1890) Abanindranath
took a few lessons in Art from his class-mate, Anukul Chatterjee
of Bhawanipur whom he still remembers clearly and the beautiful
pencil outline drawings that he used to make. Although he was not
very strong in his English, Abanindranath somehow managed to get
promoted to the first class, being exceptionally well for his age
in the Sanskrit language and literature.
In 1889 he married Srimati Suhasini Devi, the eldest daughter of
the late 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. At this institution he greatly enjoyed lectures of Father
Lafont on scientific subjects.
| Between the years 1892 and 1894, many of his early efforts
at pictorial illustration were published in the Sadhana magazine
and in Chitrangada, and other works of Rabindranath.
He also illustrated his own books, Sakuntala, Khirer-putul,
and made several pictures for the story of Bimbavati. |
Between the years 1892 and 1894, many of his early efforts at pictorial
illustration were published in the Sadhana magazine and
in Chitrangada, and other works of Rabindranath. He also
illustrated his own books, Sakuntala, Khirer-putul, and
made several pictures for the story of Bimbavati.It was at this time that Rabindranath used to compose songs and
sing them himself to the accompaniment of Abanindranath's esraj.
This period was also utilised by Abanindranath in practising music.
Some beautiful stories and dramas in Bengali came out of the pen
of Abanindranath at this time which were published later.
| Abanindranath attained such a proficiency in portrait
painting in oils that he could finish a picture within
two hours. During this period he painted many subjects
in oils. |
A set of three pen & ink head studies by Abanindranath Tagore. |
About the year 1897 when Abanindranath was about twenty-five
years of age, he took private lessons from Signor Gilhardi,
an Italian
artist, (then Vice-Principal of the Calcutta Government School
of Art) on cast drawing, foliage drawing, pastel and life study.
Later he began to attend the studio of Mr. Charles L. Palmer who
had arrived from England. After undergoing a severe training under
Palmer for three or four yearsAbanindranath attained such a proficiency
in portrait painting in oils that he could finish a picture within
two hours. During
this period he painted many subjects in oils.
In 1900 Abanindranath
went to Monghyr where a complete change took place in his artistic
activities. He gave
up painting in oil after European style and took up painting in
water colour. He returned to Calcutta and took a further course
of training in water colour painting under Palmer, and then he
again went to Monghyr taking the work he had done under Palmer
with him.
Here sitting at Kastaharini and Bisram Ghats, he devoted himself
wholeheartedly to water colour painting from life and nature. From
these ghats he could watch the graceful, slow moving pageantry
of village life between the homesteads and the river. These first
hand glimpses of Indian life combined with the former impression
on his mind of old dilapidated Moghul forts turned his mind towards
India of old, and the rich realm of Indian art definitely revealed
itself to him.
| The turning point in his artistic career came when one day,
in his ancestral library at Jorasanko house he came across
an old illuminated Indo-Persian manuscript. |
The turning point in his artistic career came when one day, in his
ancestral library at Jorasanko house he came across an old illuminated
Indo-Persian manuscript.The marvellous drawings and calligraphy in
the book fired his imagination and inspired him to reveal his own
self in his art.
‘Returning from Work’ a polychrome picture post card by Mukul Dey
issued from Indian Society of Oriental Art, Calcutta by the patronage of Abanindranath
Tagore. The price for this post card was kept at four annas in 1919. |
Abanindranath then began his famous series of pictures descriptive
of the familiar scenes in the life of Sri Krishna, the divine cowherd,
which are popularly known as the "Krishna Lila". These
productions are the effects of the subtle changes in his artistic
outlook gained at Monghyr. This led him to give up his once cherished
hope of becoming the Titian of Bengal. This happened nearly forty
years ago and Abanindranath, then a young man of thirty, found
his own expression for his art. Once for all he abandoned the European
style.
Ten years later he met E. B. Havell, then Principal
of the Government School of Art, Calcutta. In him
the youthful enthusiast found a
congenial friend and sympathiser. Both worked conjointly at the
Institution. Since that time the Bengal School of Painting has
always sought for the revival of the Indian traditional art and
motifs.
The life story of Abanindranath will remain incomplete if the
contribution of Gaganendranath, his elder brother, to the success
that has crowned
Abanindranath's efforts remains unmentioned. In the pursuit of
his creative work and in the building up of the “Indian Society
of Oriental Art” in Calcutta, Gaganendranath rendered invaluable
help. His other brother, Samarendanath, was also, in an indirect
way, responsible for the success of Abanindranath's mission, for,
by taking upon himself the onerous duties of administering the
ancestral property he relieved his brothers of much worry and trouble
and earned for them the necessary leisure to pursue the ideal they
had set before themselves.
| The orientation in the artistic outlook of Abanindranath
created a new awakening in India and brought about a revival
of the Indian Art which for centuries lay decadent and hidden
from the public view. |
The orientation in the artistic outlook of
Abanindranath created a new awakening in India and brought about
a revival of the Indian Art which for centuries lay decadent and
hidden from the public view.Just as in the period of Renaissance
the savants of Europe, after ages of gloom and desolation, discovered
the ancient
culture, so it was Abanindranath who found out India's lost art
treasures. This awakening from darkness and the new understanding
which followed, impressed its mark on almost all branches of artistic
activity, in painting, sculpture, architecture, book illustration,
design, commercial art, lithography, engraving, etc.
Original hand drawn picture post card by Abanindranath Tagore to Mukul
Dey and W. W. Pearson in Japan, 1916. |
It would be
an impossible task to give a detailed catalogue of the paintings
of Abanindranath, a large number of which may be
favourably compared with the productions of the most famous masters
of Europe. His "Avisarika" (1892), "Passing of Shah
Jahan" (1900), "Buddha and Sujata" (1901), "Krishna
Lila" series (1901 to 1903), "Banished Yaksha" (1904), "Summer" from Ritu Sanghar of
Kalidasa (1905), "Moonlight Music
Party" (1906), "The
Feast of Lamps" (1907), "Kacha and Devajani" (1908), "Shah Jahan Dreaming of Taj" (1909), illustrations
of "Omar Khayyam" (1909), "The Call of the Flute" (1910), "Asoka's
Queen" (1910: painted for her Majesty Queen Mary), "Veena
Player" (1911), "Aurangzeb examining the head of Dara" (1911), "Temple
Dancer" (1912), "Pushpa-Radha" (1912), "Sri
Radha by the River Jamuna" (1913), "Radhika gazing at
the portrait of Sri Krishna" (1913), "Moonrise at Mussouri
Hills" (1916), "Poet's Baul-dance in Falgurni" (1916), "Chaitanya
with his followers on the sea beach of Puri" (1915), "Baba
Ganesh" (1937), "End of Dalliance" (1939), are only
a few which may be mentioned among the many that have extorted
unstinted admiration in India and Europe.
The famous picture "Alamgir" is a sublime masterpiece.
The Moghul Emperor is standing bent with age, his hands at the
back clasping a book inside which the blade of the sword is seen
as a bookmark. The fingers of the aged monarch. are like the iron
claws of an eagle which catch its prey without mercy. There are
many other pictures such as the "Birds and Animals" series
(1915), "The Last Journey" (1914), which have also been
very much admired. The "Passing of Shah Jahan" is an
oil painting in wood and looks like a superb Dutch miniature. One
of the latest works from his brush is a series of illustrations
of the Tales of Arabian Nights (1928) where the age-old desert
tales spread themselves before the eye with all their romance and
mystery unimpaired.
It may sound strange to many, but it is a fact nevertheless, that Abanindranath
had a wide recognition in Europe as an artist of great merit long before
Rabindranath Tagore was known there.It
was the friends of Abanindranath and Gaganendranath, like E. B. Havell,
Thomas Sturge-Moore, Sir William Rothenstein, H. Ponten-Moller,
Norman Blunt, Sir John G. Woodroffe who encouraged the Poet to
publish his Gitanjali in English through the India Society,
London, which brought him international fame.
| His manifold and valuable contributions to literature in
some of its important branches would rank him as one of the
greatest litterateurs of the time. Children's literature specially
has received his devoted and affectionate attention. |
Painting and Sculpture are but
two of the many attainments of this versatile genius, Abanindranath
Tagore. His manifold and valuable contributions to literature in
some of its important branches would rank him as one of the
greatest litterateurs of the time. Children's literature specially
has received his devoted and affectionate attention. The more
important of his works on juvenile literature are "Raj-Kahini", "Sakuntala", "Kshirer-Putul", "Bhutapatri", "Nalaka", "Nahush", "Buro-Angla" which
please the old and the young alike.
Portrait of Dhira Devi by Abanindranath Tagore. |
The literature
on art has been considerably enriched by his works "Bharat
Silpa", "Six Limbs of Painting" and " Artistic
Anatomy", and his various contributions to the Journal of
Indian Society of Oriental Art. Apart from all these books many
original contributions from his pen have appeared in the pages
of periodicals both here and elsewhere which have now passed
out of memory.
Abanindranath's love for children has led him to
devote his limitless energy to the compilation of the Ramayana
and Mahabharata,
the sacred epics of Hindusthan, for the benefit of his young
friends. When the books will come out, they will undoubtedly
be hailed as monumental works in literature. Poems that have
come out of the gifted pen of Abanindranath are not many. But
their deep meaning, simple ease and spontaneous flow give them
a distinctiveness and charm which are rarely met with in present
day literature.
| The University of Calcutta expressed its appreciation
of his talents by appointing him a few years ago as the Bageswari
Professor of Oriental Art. |
The University of Calcutta expressed its appreciation of his talents
by appointing him a few years ago as the Bageswari Professor of
Oriental Art. The series of lectures he then delivered will for all time
to come be regarded as authoritative and inspiring utterances
on Art. These lectures have recently been published in a book
form to the delight of all lovers of art.
| He is interested in music and can play beautifully instruments
like sitar, veena, esraj and reed pipes. He takes
more than an amateurish interest in gardening. |
Abanindranath's artistic mind expresses
itself not only in the field of painting but also in diverse
other ways.He is interested in music and can play beautifully
instruments like sitar, veena, esraj and reed pipes. He
takes
more than an amateurish interest in gardening.He did some bas-relief work on common
marble used for the purpose of preparing hand-made bread and
numerous portraits in pastel and oil, and has also done some
fresco painting on walls.
| The drama and stage decorations are also among the various
subjects of Abanindranath's interest. He is himself an actor
of no mean merit. The success of many of Rabindranath's famous
plays was due in no small measure to the artistic setting
designed by Abanindranath's imaginative mind. |
The drama and stage decorations are also among the various subjects of Abanindranath's
interest. He is himself an actor of no mean merit. The success
of many of Rabindranath's famous plays was due in no small measure to the
artistic
setting designed by Abanindranath's imaginative mind.He has a great
fund of humour and his rendering of comic parts in the plays of Rabindranath
staged in Calcutta will long be
remembered by those who have seen him acting.
Special mention may be made of his post-card paintings and
sketches which he is in the habit of sending to his pupils as a sort of
encouragement to them in their pursuit of art. A small thing
in itself, this however reveals an important trait in his character.
They should be collected and published in a book form.
| Of warm and affectionate disposition, Abanindranath has
always looked after the welfare of his pupils, and besides
ungrudgingly giving his help and encouragement in their work
he was always ready to help them out of their difficulties
with financial aid. |
Water colour wash-painting by Abanindranath Tagore. |
Of warm and affectionate disposition, Abanindranath has always
looked after the welfare of his pupils, and besides ungrudgingly
giving his help and encouragement in their work he was always ready
to help them out of their difficulties with financial aid.Indeed his timely and secret financial assistance has enabled many
of his students, whose careers would otherwise have come to an
end to attain success for themselves. It is a rare fortune to be
one of his pupils.
| Bengal has been slow to understand his gifts to her and
even when she has come to appreciate them she has been slow
to give recognition to the sublime attainments of the great
master. |
Abanindranath is still with us. His powerful
mind is still creative. His work has been of great value in the
regeneration of national
culture in India. But our countrymen never rendered proper homage
to him.Bengal has been slow to understand his gifts to her
and even when she has come to appreciate them she has been slow
to give recognition to the sublime attainments of the great
master.It is not often in the history of a nation that a genius
like Abanindranath is born.
| What will happen to these pictures of unique value when
their creator has passed away? Should we on our part let
our treasures perish unknown, neglected and uncared for? |
A pertinent question arises in the mind of every genuine lover
of art.What will happen to these pictures of unique value when
their creator has passed away?Would all these be allowed
to vanish with him? Conquerors like Napoleon preferred removing
to their own country art treasures to carrying away precious
metals from different lands. Should we on our part let our treasures
perish
unknown, neglected
and uncared for?
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