GAGANENDRANATH TAGORE (1867-1938)

Gaganendranath Tagore began to paint late in his life at the age of thirty-eight, much like his uncle Rabindranath Tagore. Along with his brother Abanindranath, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Indian Society of Oriental Art, Calcutta, in 1907. Apart from his early paintings and illustrations, the artist is known for his refined watercolour landscapes, unique, colourful cubist constructions, his experiments with black and white photography, and his portfolios of caricatures like Birupa Bajra and Adbhut Lok, which offered a satirical take on Bengali society of the time.

This painting illuminates the penultimate phase of Tagore’s oeuvre, which ended prematurely in 1930 when the artist suffered a cerebral stroke that left him paralysed for the rest of his life. This ethereal dawn scene executed in watercolour masterfully negotiates the territory between realism and impressionism in the artist’s unique idiom. Most likely one of the artist’s impressions of the temple town of Puri in Orissa, this work is a perfect example of the varied brushwork and wash techniques that he perfected, first under the tutelage of the Japanese artists Kakuzo Okakura and Yokoyama Taikan and then through his own experimental creative process.

Speaking about the artist's work, his uncle Rabindranath Tagore noted, “What profoundly attracted me was the uniqueness of his creation, a lively curiosity in his constant experiments, and some mysterious depth in their imaginative value. Closely surrounded by the atmosphere of a new art movement he sought out his own untrodden path of adventure, attempted marvellous experiments in colouring and made fantastic trials in the magic of light and shade.” (R. Tagore, Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art, Vol. 6, Calcutta, 1938)