Author | R. Siva Kumar |
---|---|
Language | English |
Subject | Art |
Publisher | Pratikshan |
Publication date | 2008 |
Publication place | India |
Pages | 383 |
ISBN | 81-89323-09-1 |
Paintings of Abanindranath Tagore is a book on Abanindranath Tagore's paintings by art historian R. Siva Kumar. [1] It is widely considered as a landmark book in the Indian art scene that brings together a large corpus of Abanindranath's work for the first time. It fulfils a glaring lacuna in the picture of this master of modern Indian art.
In the books R. Siva Kumar states, 'The social space that Abanindranath narrativized as an artist-flaneur is thus the subject of the Orientalist artist/writer read from the obverse. He reclaims the colonial subjects' right to narrate their stories that was arrogated to themselves by the colonial rulers and perpetuated by presenting their readings as 'objective'. Abanindranath reasserts this right by recasting the Nights (Arabian Nights), a text central to the Orientalist representation of the East, by urging us to read his act of imagination contrapuntally with the text authenticated by the Orientalist.' [2]
Abanindranath Tagore (1871–1951) is a singular figure in Modern Indian Art. Having arrived on the Indian art scene with the first wave of nationalism, he was seen as father figure of nationalist art and modernism. Along with E. B. Havell, Coomaraswamy, Sister Nivedita and other nationalists he brought an attitudinal change in the Indian response to traditional art. But his true contribution went beyond these. Trained under European artists initially, realism remained the underpinning of his work. But as a modernist at heart who was guided more by his sensibility than his training, he transformed the post Renaissance academic realism into which he was trained with his series of contacts with oriental art into something more supple and responsive to the imaginative flights of his mind. A post-Romantic in his sensibilities, he let his individualism triumph over his nationalism. Although he aligned with the nationalists in the early years of his career he transcended it very soon to develop something more akin to a Baudelairian aesthetics of modernism with a subjective response to the world rather than an unmediated representation of things. His most impressive work, the Arabian Nights series painted in 1930, can be described as a look at his immediate world through the eyes of a Baudelarian Flaneur, with the stories of the Arabian Nights serving as a pre-text. Equally original as a writer, Abanindranath is a phenomenon whose import has not been fully grasped. Much of this has been due to the unfamiliarity with his work in the absence of easily accessible public collections and publications. The present book brings together a large body of his work for the first time in an attempt to fulfill a glaring lacuna in our picture of this early master of modern Indian art. [3]
The book has also influenced other books and researches on Abanindranath Tagore. Ananya Vajpeyi in her Righteous Republic: The Political Foundations of Modern India highlights the contribution of R. Siva Kumar's Paintings of Abanindranath Tagore in foregrounding Abanindranath Tagore's art anew. [4]
Gaganendranath Tagore was an Indian painter and cartoonist of the Bengal school. Along with his brother Abanindranath Tagore, he was counted as one of the earliest modern artists in India.
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The Bengal School of Art, commonly referred as Bengal School, was an art movement and a style of Indian painting that originated in Bengal, primarily Calcutta and Shantiniketan, and flourished throughout the Indian subcontinent, during the British Raj in the early 20th century. Also known as 'Indian style of painting' in its early days, it was associated with Indian nationalism (swadeshi) and led by Abanindranath Tagore (1871–1951), and was also being promoted and supported by British arts administrators like E. B. Havell, the principal of the Government College of Art and Craft, Kolkata from 1896; eventually it led to the development of the modern Indian painting.
Abanindranath Tagore was the principal artist and creator of the "Indian Society of Oriental Art". He was also the first major exponent of Swadeshi values in Indian art. He founded the influential Bengal school of art, which led to the development of modern Indian painting. He was also a noted writer, particularly for children. Popularly known as 'Aban Thakur', his books Rajkahini, Buro Angla, Nalak, and Khirer Putul were landmarks in Bengali language children's literature and art.
Indian painting has a very long tradition and history in Indian art. The earliest Indian paintings were the rock paintings of prehistoric times, such as the petroglyphs found in places like the Bhimbetka rock shelters. Some of the Stone Age rock paintings found among the Bhimbetka rock shelters are approximately 10,000 years old. Because of the climatic conditions in the Indian subcontinent, very few early examples survive today.
Jamini Roy was an Indian painter. He was honoured by the Government of India the award of Padma Bhushan in 1954. He remains one of the most famous pupils of Abanindranath Tagore, another praised Indian artist and instructor. Roy's highly simplified, flattened-out style, and reminiscent of European modern art was influenced by the “bazaar” paintings sold at Indian temples as talismans.
Nandalal Bose was one of the pioneers of modern Indian art and a key figure of Contextual Modernism.
Ramkinkar Baij was an Indian sculptor and painter, one of the pioneers of modern Indian sculpture and a key figure of Contextual Modernism.
Bharat Mata is a work painted by the Indian painter Abanindranath Tagore in 1905. However, the painting was first painted by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in the 1870s. The work depicts a saffron-clad woman, dressed like a sadhvi, holding a book, sheaves of paddy, a piece of white cloth, and a rudraksha garland (mala) in her four hands. The painting was the first illustrated depiction of the concept and was painted with Swadesh ideals during the larger Indian Independence movement.
S. G. Thakur Singh (1899–1976) was an Indian artist who painted in oils, pastels and water colour
The modern Indian art movement in Indian painting is considered to have begun in Calcutta in the late nineteenth century. The old traditions of painting had more or less died out in Bengal and new schools of art were started by the British. Initially, protagonists of Indian art such as Raja Ravi Varma drew on Western traditions and techniques including oil paint and easel painting. A reaction to the Western influence led to a revival in primitivism, called as the Bengal school of art, which drew from the rich cultural heritage of India. It was succeeded by the Santiniketan school, led by Rabindranath Tagore's harking back to idyllic rural folk and rural life. Despite its country-wide influence in the early years, the importance of the school declined by the 'forties' and now it is as good as dead.
Nirode Mazumdar was an Indian painter from the first generation of modernists, and a key member of the Calcutta Group. Almost a forgotten figure today, he strode the art scenario from the 40's like a colossus. Long before his other contemporaries recognised the importance of symbolism, he applied them generously to achieve his philosophical and artistic aspirations. His paintings are based on what he called 'constructive symbolism'. A significant artist of the last century, he was almost a cult figure amongst the art fraternity and a titan of 20th century modernism.
Raman Siva Kumar, known as R. Siva Kumar, is an Indian contemporary art historian, art critic, and curator. His major research has been in the area of early Indian modernism with special focus on the Santiniketan School. He has written several important books, lectured widely on modern Indian art and contributed articles to prestigious international projects such as the Art Journal, Grove Art Online or The Dictionary of Art, Oxford University Press.
Rabindra Chitravali is a 2011 four-volume set of books by art historian R. Siva Kumar that contains paintings of Rabindranth Tagore. These include about 1700 paintings in the Rabindra Bhavana and Kala Bhavana collections of Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan; and more than 300 paintings in the collection of the National Gallery of Modern Art and the collections at Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata; National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi and Bangalore; and Indian Museum, Kolkata.
Kala Bhavana is the fine arts faculty of Visva-Bharati University, in Shantiniketan, India. It is an institution of education and research in visual arts, founded in 1919, it was established by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
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Bireswar Sen (1897–1974) was an Indian painter, writer, and teacher, who was influenced by the Bengal School of Art and Western modernism, but then later developed a unique visual language of miniatures. He depicted grand landscapes, mostly featuring the Himalayas, on paintings measuring smaller than postcards. Sen was popular and celebrated during his lifetime, but faded from public consciousness after his death.
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