Abanindranath Tagore

Abanindranath Tagore was a painter and writer from the Tagore family of Jorasanko, Calcutta. This is now Kolkata. He was a nephew of the poet Rabindranath Tagore.

How did he grow up?

• He was born on 7 August 1871 in Calcutta.
• He studied at home when he was young.
• In the 1880s he went to Sanskrit College, Calcutta.
• He began as an illustrator. Some early drawings appeared beside poems by his uncles in the magazine Sadhana in 1892.
• His brother, Gaganendranath Tagore, was also an artist.

How did he learn to paint?

• He enrolled at the Government College of Art and Craft in Calcutta.
• There he met its principal, E.B. Havell. Havell wanted Indian art taught in Indian ways.

What is the memory hook?

Think “Jorasanko boy, Rabindranath’s nephew, born 1871”. The home, the uncle and the year go together.

The Bengal School was an art movement. It rejected European realism and went back to Indian traditions. A tradition here means older styles of painting passed down over time.

What did he take from other styles?

• He drew on Mughal, Rajput and Pahari miniature painting. A miniature is a small, finely detailed painting.
• He learned the Japanese wash technique from the followers of the Japanese art historian Okakura Kakuzo.
• Wash painting means laying thin, soft layers of colour on paper.
• He disliked life study, oil painting and strict realism.

What did he do at the art college?

• In 1905 Havell brought him in as vice-principal of the Government College of Art in Calcutta.
• He also taught Indian art there. This helped change what students were taught.
• He resigned from the post in 1915.

What was the Indian Society of Oriental Art?

• Around 1907 he and his brother Gaganendranath helped set up the Indian Society of Oriental Art.
• It was the first art salon in India. A salon is a place where artists show their work.
• It gave the Bengal School a base to hold shows.

What is the memory hook?

Think “Havell 1905, Okakura’s wash, Society 1907”. The teacher, the technique and the club go together.

Bharat Mata is his best-known painting. It shows India as a mother goddess. It became a lasting symbol of the freedom struggle.

When and why did he paint it?

• He painted it in 1905, the year of the Partition of Bengal.
• Lord Curzon ordered that partition. The Swadeshi movement rose against it.
• Swadeshi means “of our own country”. It urged people to boycott British goods and back Indian ones.
• He first imagined the figure as Banga Mata, or Mother Bengal. It was later called Bharat Mata.

What does the painting show?

• A four-armed woman in a saffron robe.
• She holds a book, rice sheaves, a white cloth and a rosary.
• These stand for learning, food, clothing and salvation.
• Sister Nivedita championed the image as a spiritual icon of the nationalist movement.

What is the memory hook?

Think “1905, Curzon’s partition, four arms, four gifts”. The year, the cause and the gifts go together.

His other works show how he mixed styles. His students carried the Bengal School across India.

Which paintings should you know?

• The Passing of Shah Jahan (about 1902) shows the dying emperor with his daughter Jahanara. It is in the Mughal style.
• The Krishna Lila series (1895–97) is based on Jayadeva’s Geet Govinda.
• The Arabian Nights series (1930) retells old Baghdad stories in modern city settings.

Who were his students?

• Nandalal Bose and Asit Kumar Haldar were among them.
• K. Venkatappa and Kshitindranath Majumdar also trained under him.
• They spread the Bengal School style to many parts of India.

What else did he write and teach?

• He wrote children’s books such as Khirer Putul, Rajkahini and Buro Angla.
• From 1921 to 1929 he gave 29 lectures at Calcutta University. He held the Rani Bageswari chair of Indian fine arts.

What is the memory hook?

Think “Shah Jahan = Mughal, Krishna Lila = Geet Govinda, Arabian Nights = 1930”. Each series has one source.

Which traps repeat?

• He founded the Bengal School. Raja Ravi Varma stood for the Western-influenced style he opposed.
• He painted Bharat Mata in 1905, during the Swadeshi movement.
• Havell was the principal. Abanindranath was the vice-principal.
• The Indian Society of Oriental Art came around 1907.
• Nandalal Bose was his student. Rabindranath was his uncle.

What is the memory hook?

Think “1905 Bharat Mata, Havell, Okakura’s wash, Society 1907”. Each clue marks one fact.