Important Notice

Gaganendranath Tagore was born in 1867 to a family with an inclination for the fine arts and other cultural pursuits. The Tagore family lived in Jorasanko, Calcutta. By the mid-19th century, Calcutta had already become an important economic and cultural centre for the British, and the art scene was dominated by artists mimicking European academicism, while traditional Indian arts and crafts had been pushed to the background. In the early 20th... Gaganendranath Tagore was born in 1867 to a family with an inclination for the fine arts and other cultural pursuits. The Tagore family lived in Jorasanko, Calcutta. By the mid-19th century, Calcutta had already become an important economic and cultural centre for the British, and the art scene was dominated by artists mimicking European academicism, while traditional Indian arts and crafts had been pushed to the background. In the early 20th century, nationalism had begun to gain in importance as a response to Europeanism, and British and European imports were being rejected in pursuit of locally produced goods. The Bengal School, a revivalist nationalist school, was at the forefront of rejecting European academicism in favour of the techniques of Indian arts and crafts, as well as those of the Orient.

Gaganendranath’s brother Abanindranath Tagore led this movement. In the fervour surrounding the scene at the time, Gaganendranath stood out as an individual and an artist. His oeuvre spanned twenty-five years and reflected a confluence of Oriental and Occidental techniques. As an artist, Gaganendranath had taken up painting quite late, though he was influenced both by his family and artistic techniques of the East from an early age. Jyotirindranath Tagore, brother of Rabindranath Tagore and uncle to Gaganendranath, was a perceptive and versatile man. His portraits, considered a highly important contribution to modern Indian art, were a source of influence to Gaganendranath, whose earliest drawings and paintings reflect a preoccupation with the figurative.

The current work falls into the fledgling years of his artistic career. Made in 1907, it coincides with the foundation of the Indian Society of Oriental Art by him and Abanindranath, which became a platform for promoting their works, as well as the works of other Bengal school artists. In this lot, the figure is rendered with a few quick strokes—perhaps owing to time constraints, yet convincingly possessing character. The mood is set through a monochromatic gradient. The man’s facial expressions are sublimely captured by the artist. Gaganendranath also demonstrates an adroit handling of watercolour with this work: a skill attributed to his training under a renowned watercolourist from the British School, Harinarayan Bandopadhyay.

Speaking of Gaganendranath’s talent, his cousin Rathindranath Tagore wrote in 1938, “I have watched with wonder and joy the various stages which marked his artistic career, the many daring experiments and innovations for which his genius was responsible—the period of Japanese influence and of the exquisite gold backgrounds; of the water colour paintings of rural Bengal and of Puri; of the Himalayan sketches; of the brilliant series depicting the life of Sri Chaitanya; of the caricatures of Indian life; and of the very original experiments in cubism.” (“Cousin Gaganendra”, Gaganendranath Tagore, The Indian Society of Oriental Art, Calcutta, 1972, pgs. 18-19)

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