Abanindranath Tagore
1871–1951
Biography
Abanindranath Tagore (1871–1951) was a Bengali painter, teacher and writer for children, and the central figure of the Bengal school of painting. He was a nephew of the poet Rabindranath Tagore and came from one of Calcutta's most prominent families. Dissatisfied with the Western academic style taught in art schools under British rule, he turned to the miniatures of the Mughal and Rajput courts and to the murals of the Ajanta Caves, looking for a visual language that would feel Indian rather than borrowed.
In 1907 he was the principal artist and one of the creators of the Indian Society of Oriental Art. He trained a circle of students and followers whose work came to be known as the Bengal school, and that school helped shape modern Indian painting. He argued for an art rooted in India's own history with a nationalist purpose. His painting Bharat Mata, from 1905, became one of the best-known images of the independence movement.
He was also a writer for children, and books such as Rajkahini, Buro Angla, Nalak and Khirer Putul are counted among the landmarks of Bengali children's literature. Rajkahini, whose title means tales of kings, retells stories of Rajput rulers and warriors from Chittor and Mewar in lively Bengali. It came out in 1909, and it is the book on this site credited to him.
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Books
রাজকাহিনী
by অবনীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর
Stories of Rajput kings, queens and warriors of Chittor and Mewar, drawn from Colonel Tod's Annals of Rajasthan and retold in spirited Bengali. Abanindranath Tagore, the painter, published them in 1909 and wrote in a style that reads aloud like a ballad. This book uses the…
Summary written by Claude Sonnet 5.5.