This painting done in dark tones is an example of the head studies that Rabindranath liked to paint where the face with piercing eyes emerged from an inky dark background. The expressionist brush work adds drama and depth to the painting. Art historian R.Siva Kumar dates this work to C.1939 and describes the medium as ‘coloured ink and watercolour on paper’.
- Identifier
- ngma-01222
- Material
- Watercolour, Paper
- Note
- Rabindranath Tagore was primarily known as a writer, poet, playwright, philosopher and aesthetician, founder of a unique educational institution, Visva- Bharati, music composer and choreographer. Tagore's emergence as a painter began in 1928 when he was 67 years old. Beginning with scratchings and erasures on the pages of his manuscripts during the mid-20s of the 20th Century, he slowly moved towards drawing and painting independent images. Between 1928 and 1940, Rabindranath painted more than 2000 images. He never gave any title to his paintings. Fed by memories and the subconscious, Rabindranath's art was spontaneous and dramatic. His images did not represent the phenomenal world but an interior reality. Rabindranath veered towards abstraction in his figuration. Expressionism in European art and the primitive art of ancient cultures inspired him. Fantasy, wild imagination and an innate feel for the absurd gave a distinctive character to his visual language. The National Gallery of Modern Art has a representative collection of his imagery.
- Pages
- 22.7 x 38 cm
- Published in
- India
- Type
- Painting
