Gaganendranath Tagore painted many portraits of his uncle Rabindranath Tagore. Art historian Ratan Parimoo dates this work to C. 1925. Gaganendranath's fondness for using black in his paintings intensified from 1921 onwards. Not only did the artist evoke a sense of mystery and fantasy through his use of black but he also revealed his sensitivity to the play of light and its changing qualities. In this portrait, the poet's figure is softly lit by a mellow, diffused light flooding the dark interior through a square opening. The inscription mentions, signed 'G. T.' in English at the bottom right corner of the painting with a brush in red colour.
- Identifier
- ngma-01003
- Material
- Wash, Tempera, Paper
- Note
- Born to the family of Tagore's of Jorasanko, Kolkata, Gaganendranath was the elder brother of Abanindranath Tagore. With little formal training in art Gaganendranath began painting at an advanced age. He was inspired by the calligraphic brushwork and the wash technique of the visiting Japanese artists, Yokoyama Taikan and Hishida Shunsho. In the early 20's of the Twentieth century, Gaganendranath responded positively to the European modernist idiom. He began painting seriously when he started illustrating his uncle Rabindranath Tagore's autobiography in 1911. Gaganendranath like his younger brother Abanindranath and uncle Rabindranath had a wide range of interests that covered theatre, fantasy and the like. He also practiced photography and this can be seen in the use of light and shadows in his paintings. From 1917 onwards he did a series of satirical caricatures of changes taking place in the society of his times. Many of his paintings were referred to as 'cubist' because of the division of the figures and ground into geometrical planes. Gaganendranath painted portraits, landscapes, caricatures, abstract and 'cubist' paintings.
- Pages
- 13.6 x 17.8 cm
- Published in
- India
- Type
- Painting
