Rabindranath Tagore has been quoted as saying, “I often think that only painting has a deathless quality. Now in the evening of my life, my mind is filled with forms and colours.” Probably one of the most prominent figures in the Indian subcontinent, Tagore, even seven decades after his death, remains the pride of not just Bengalis but Indians all over the world. Even though he is mainly known as a poet, his multifaceted talent touched upon different branches of art, such as, novels, short stories, dramas, articles and essays. He was a social reformer, patriot and above all, a great humanitarian and philosopher. Tagore songs — famously known as Rabindra Sangeet — are immensely popular and equally revered is his persona as an artist, though he began wielding the brush only at the age of 67.
Tagore, along with Raja Ravi Varma, Nandalal Bose, Amrita Sher-Gil and Sailoz Mukherjea, figures in the list of India’s national treasures and his works are part of the coveted art collection of National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi.
His paintings are inspired by images of both man and nature. Expressed in a free style, often resembling doodles of birds and human faces, he played with colour and form freely. Since Tagore had no formal training in art, it’s fascinating to discover that the brooding portraits of unknown faces he painted were purely out of imagination. He transformed his lack of training into an advantage and opened new horizons in the use of line and colour.
Tagore was such a prolific painter that he held nine exhibitions in major cities in Europe and also in Boston and New York between May and December 1930. He produced over 2,500 artworks within a decade, over 1,500 of which are preserved in Viswa-Bharati, Santiniketan. It is evident that in his search for newer form of expression in line and colour, Tagore was trying to express something different from what he did in his poetry and songs. If he sought peace and enlightenment in his songs, he seemed to explore darkness and mystery in his drawings. His rhythmic brush strokes were strong and intense and he mainly used coloured ink to create this powerful imagery. Even with his stark simplicity, Tagore could evoke emotions of laughter, disgust, anger and more in his portraits.
Tagore’s landscapes were inspired by the lush, green environment of Shantiniketan and like his other works, his early landscapes too were in black ink. When he started using colours for landscapes, he created a mysterious effect with billowing trees, glowing skies and open vast grounds.
He once said, “People often ask me about the meaning of my pictures. I remain silent even as my pictures are. It is for them to express and not to explain. They have nothing ulterior behind their own appearance for the thoughts to explore and words to describe, and that appearance carries its ultimate worth.”
The fact that his paintings are still considered as a point of reference for students of fine art speaks volumes about the Nobel Laureate’s mastery over both the medium and content of his magical art world.
(Poonam Goel is a freelance journalist who contributes on visual arts for unboxedwriters.com)