Important Notice

Gaganendranath Tagore was a self-taught artist and caricaturist, the nephew of Rabindranath Tagore, and a member of the Bengal School. Known for his unique style which evolved independently of any formal art education, the artist founded the Indian Society of Oriental Art alongside his brother Abanindranath Tagore in 1907. Having created a platform to promote art that employed and echoed indigenous styles, Gaganendranath Tagore remained the... Gaganendranath Tagore was a self-taught artist and caricaturist, the nephew of Rabindranath Tagore, and a member of the Bengal School. Known for his unique style which evolved independently of any formal art education, the artist founded the Indian Society of Oriental Art alongside his brother Abanindranath Tagore in 1907. Having created a platform to promote art that employed and echoed indigenous styles, Gaganendranath Tagore remained the driving force behind this society. However, "unlike Abanindranath and some of his pupils whose works show their indebtedness to such art traditions as Ajanta and Mughal paintings... [he] was not much influenced by any particular school of painting. He saw the world introspectively and with his own eyes, and made pictures on original lines. Bengal in its different moods has been revealed in his work.'' (Dinesh Chandra Sen, "Gaganendranath Tagore as I Knew Him," Calcutta: Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art, 1938)

In 1906?07, Tagore served frequently on the special jury, where he likely first began sketching. "Gaganendranath's earliest attempts at portraiture have an interesting history... During the interminable rigmarole of legal inanities, [he] would while away his time making surreptitious sketches of the presiding judge, his fellow jurors, the learned counsels, the witness in their stand and the accused on the dock. That was probably how the artist and the cartoonist revolved round the same axle simultaneously, but on parallel lines." (Kshitis Roy, "Gaganendranath Tagore," Lalit Kala Akademi, 1964, criticalcollective.in, online) Lots 1 and 2 comprise what were possibly early or preparatory sketches by the artist.

Read More
Artist Profile
Other works of this artist in: this auction  |  entire site