Rabindranath Tagore was already a Nobel laureate, world-famous as a poet, when he picked up a paintbrush seriously for the first time. He was in his sixties. He had never trained as a painter. It started almost by accident: while writing his poems, he would cross out mistakes, then absent-mindedly turn the crossed-out lines into little doodles. Those doodles slowly grew into real paintings. Around the same time, two very different men were shaping how ordinary Indians saw art in a completely different way — M.F. Husain with his bold gallery canvases, and R.K. Laxman with a cartoon character read by millions every single morning.
Must Know
Tagore’s Late-Blooming Second Art
- Late StartRabindranath Tagore took up painting seriously only in his sixties, decades after he became famous as a poet.
- HowIt began around 1924, while he was writing the poems for his book Purabi. He doodled over the lines he crossed out, and the doodles slowly grew into an independent, largely self-taught, expressionistic art practice.
A Paris Debut, Arranged by a Friend
- First ExhibitionTagore’s first solo art exhibition opened in Paris in May 1930, at the Galerie du Theatre Pigalle.
- HowIt was arranged by his friend Victoria Ocampo, an Argentine writer he had met on an earlier trip. The show later travelled on to cities including Berlin, Moscow, Boston, and New York.
Husain and the Progressive Artists’ Group
- Founding MemberM.F. Husain was a founding member of the Progressive Artists’ Group, formed in Bombay in 1947.
- ResultHe grew into one of India’s most recognisable modern painters, working across bold, modernist takes on Indian mythology and everyday life.
Husain’s Horses and the “Picasso of India”, and R.K. Laxman’s Silent Common Man
- Horse MotifHusain became especially known for his recurring, expressive depictions of horses, a motif that runs across decades of his work.
- WhyHis prolific output and bold modernist style earned him a popular nickname: the “Picasso of India.”
- Common Man OriginR.K. Laxman was a cartoonist for the Times of India. He created the Common Man, a silent, bespectacled everyman who watched Indian politics and society for decades.
- HowThe character appeared daily in Laxman’s long-running strip, “You Said It,” one of the most widely followed cartoon features in Indian newspaper history.
Good to Know
A Second Creative Life, on His Own Terms
- Creative RangeTagore’s shift into painting shows his creative ambitions reached well beyond literature.
- WhyFew figures achieve major international recognition in one field, a Nobel Prize in Literature in his case, and then quietly build a serious second creative practice, entirely on their own terms, late in life.
A Motif as a Personal Signature
- Artist SignatureHusain’s recurring horses became so closely tied to him that the image works almost like a personal signature.
- WhyMany major modern artists get identified by one or two recurring visual themes across a much wider body of work, and Husain’s horses are a clear example.
Why the Common Man Never Speaks
- Silent CharacterThe Common Man never speaks in any of Laxman’s cartoons. That silence was a deliberate artistic choice, not an accident.
- WhyIt let the character stand in for the ordinary citizen’s reaction to events in general, rather than voice one commentator’s specific opinion.
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Great to Know
Three Very Different Paths, One Century
- ResultTagore, Husain, and Laxman together show three very different paths into Indian visual culture in the modern era: a literary figure’s late reinvention, a formally trained painter’s gallery career, and a cartoonist’s daily newspaper reach.
- Takeaway“Significant modern Indian artist” turns out to cover a far wider range of practice than gallery painting alone.
Mass Reach Versus Gallery Reach
- Media ReachThe Common Man’s decades-long daily presence in Indian newspapers likely gave him more sustained public visibility than almost any single gallery painting from the same era.
- TakeawayPopular, mass-media art forms can shape a country’s cultural memory just as powerfully as fine art hanging in a gallery.
Current Affairs
Husain’s Auction Record, Broken Again
- EventIn March 2025, Husain’s 1954 painting “Untitled (Gram Yatra)” sold at Christie’s for $13.8 million, the highest price ever paid for a modern Indian artwork at auction.
- DetailThat record did not last. On 1 April 2026, Raja Ravi Varma’s 19th-century painting “Yashoda and Krishna” sold for ₹167.2 crore, about $18 million, at Saffronart’s Spring Live Auction in Mumbai, bought by collector Cyrus Poonawalla.
- So WhatHusain’s Gram Yatra briefly held the title of the most expensive Indian artwork ever sold, before an earlier painter’s work overtook it a year later, a reminder of just how fast this record keeps moving. Source: Euronews.
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Consider the following passage and identify the person: Born in April 1932, she was a renowned Hindustani classical vocalist. She was recognized as an innovative exponent of the Jaipur Gharana. She was awarded Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan. She was also a Fellow of Sangeet Natak Akademy. She died in April 2017. **[CAPF (ACs) 2017]**D3924 — Which dance form of India has been inscribed into UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity?D3562 — With reference to the ancient architectural development in the hills of North Indian States, consider the following statements: 1. The temple 'Garbhagriha' and 'Shikhara' were made in a Rekha-prasada or Latina style. 2. The Pandrethan Temple in Kashmir is built on a plinth in the middle of a tank. 3. The Jageshwar Temple is located in Garhwal region. 4. The Lakshana Devi Mandir shows the influence of the post-Gupta tradition. How many statements given above are correct? **[CAPF (ACs) 2025]**D3412 — Who among the following classical poets is the author of the book Kiratarjuniyam? **[CAPF (ACs) 2025]**🎲 Take a Art And Culture Quiz
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