150 years of iconic artist Abanindranath Tagore

• The celebration titled Abanindranath at 150: Bichitra Revisited, is being organised jointly by Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata, and DAG.
• Abanindranath Tagore was the principal artist of the Bengal School of Art.
• He was the first major exponent of an artistic idiom that sought to modernise the Mughal and the Rajput styles in order to counter the influence of Western models of art under the colonial regime.

Abanindranath Tagore:

• Abanindranath was born in Jorasanko, Calcutta on 7 August 1871.
• His father Gunendranath was the son of Girindranath, the second son of Dwarkanath Tagore.
• Abanindranath, a nephew of Rabindranath Tagore and a decade younger to the poet, helped shape modern Indian art and was the creator of the iconic ‘Bharat Mata’ painting.
• He believed in the traditional Indian techniques of painting.
• He was very much influenced by the Mughal School of painting as well as Whistler's Aestheticism.

Abaninranath’s Notable Paintings:

Bharat Mata:

• This painting was completed in the year 1905.
• The painting depicts Bharat Mata (Mother India).
• She is portrayed as having four hands, carrying important elements in each of her hands

Ganesh Janani:

• ‘Ganesh Janani, painted in the year 1908, depicts an image of Lord Ganesh in his child form.
• The Lord is seen playing by hanging on to a branch of a tree while his mother wears a concerned look on her face.

The Victory of Buddha:

• ‘The Victory of Buddha depicts a portrait of Buddha after achieving enlightenment.
• It also answers Buddha’s ultimate question pertaining to human suffering.

Bengal School of Art:

• The Bengal School is fully based on the Indian traditional style as the subject matter of this school is based on Indian culture.
• The paintings based on Indian theme like ‘Mahakali, ‘Shiva Parwati’Krishna and Gopis etc. prove the Bengal School’s Indian mentality.
• It is also called the Renaissance School or the Revivalist School, as it represented the first modern movement of Indian art.
• It was started under the influence of Principal E.B. Havell and Abanindranath Tagore.
• Bengal school is influenced from Ajanta Art