Gaganendranath Tagore

2026-02-15T06:04:04Z

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{{short description|Indian painter and cartoonist of the Bengal school (1867–1938)}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2018}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Gaganendranath Tagore
| image = Gaganendranath Tagore.png
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1867|09|17|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1938|02|14|1867|09|18|df=y}}
| death_place = Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India
| movement = [[Bengal School of Art]]
| patrons =
| awards =
| known_for = {{hlist|Painting|cartoonist}}
}}

'''Gaganendranath Tagore''' (18 September 1867 – 14 February 1938)<ref name="sengupta">{{cite encyclopedia |editor1-last=Sengupta |editor1-first=Subodh Chandra |editor2-last=Basu |editor2-first=Anjali |year=1988 |orig-year=First published 1976 |script-title=bn:গগনেন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর |trans-title=Gaganendranath Tagore |script-encyclopedia=bn:সংসদ বাঙালি চরিতাভিধান |encyclopedia=Saṃsada bāṅāli caritābhidhāna |trans-encyclopedia=Parliament Bengali Biographical Dictionary |url=https://archive.org/details/Samsad-Bangali-Charitabhidhan-Ed2/page/১২৪/mode/1up |language=bn |volume=1 |edition=2nd |location=Kolkata |publisher=Sahitya Samsad |page=124}}</ref> was an Indian painter and [[cartoonist]] of the [[Bengal school of art|Bengal school]]. Along with his brother [[Abanindranath Tagore]], he was counted as one of the earliest [[modern art]]ists in India.

==Life and career==
Gaganendranath Tagore was born at [[Jorasanko]] into the Tagore family, whose creative contributions defined Bengal's cultural history. Gaganendranath was the eldest son of Gunendranath Tagore, grandson of Girindranath Tagore and a great-grandson of Prince [[Dwarkanath Tagore]]. His brother Abanindranath was a pioneer and leading exponent of the Bengal School of Art. He was a nephew of the poet [[Rabindranath Tagore]] and the paternal great-grandfather of actress [[Sharmila Tagore]].

[[File:Pratima Visarjan by Gaganendranath Tagore.png|thumb|200px|right|''Pratima Visarjan'', watercolour, c. 1915]]
Gaganendranath received no formal education but trained under the watercolourist Harinarayan Bandopadhyay. In 1907, along with his brother Abanindranath, he founded the [[Indian Society of Oriental Art]] which later published the influential journal ''Rupam''. Between 1906 and 1910, the artist studied and assimilated Japanese brush techniques and the influence of Far Eastern art into his own work, as demonstrated by his illustrations for Rabindranath Tagore's autobiography ''Jeevansmriti'' (1912). He went on to develop his own approach in his ''Chaitanya'' and ''Pilgrim'' series. Gaganendranath eventually abandoned the revivalism of the Bengal School and took up caricature. The ''Modern Review'' published many of his cartoons in 1917. From 1917 onwards, his satirical lithographs appeared in a series of books, including ''Play of Opposites'', ''Realm of the Absurd'' and ''Reform Screams''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Terracciano |first=Emilia |title=Bengal School Painting from the Collection of L.T.P Manjusri (1902-82) |publisher=Oliver Forge Brendan Lynch |chapter-url=http://www.pagegangster.com/p/XxATR/42/ |chapter=Biographical Notes |archive-date=24 September 2015 |access-date=27 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924063244/http://www.pagegangster.com/p/XxATR/42/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Between 1920 and 1925, Gaganendranath pioneered experiments in modernist painting.<ref>Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum, [[Ahmenabad]]</ref> Partha Mitter describes him as "the only Indian painter before the 1940s who made use of the language and syntax of Cubism in his painting".<ref name="Mitter2007">{{cite book |first=Partha |last=Mitter |title=The Triumph of Modernism: India's Artists and the Avant-Garde, 1922-1947 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=krdWkzVLSbkC&pg=PA18 |year=2007 |publisher=Reaktion Books |isbn=978-1-86189-318-5 |page=18}}</ref> From 1925 onwards, the artist developed a complex post-cubist style.

Gaganendranath also took a keen interest in theatre, and wrote a children's book in the manner of Lewis Carroll, ''Bhodor Bahadur'' ('Otter the Great').

==Works==
* ''Adbhut Lok: realm of the absurd'', 1917, Calcutta: Vichitra Press, a portfolio of thirteen satirical pictures.
* ''Naba Hullod: Reform screams; a pictorial review at the close of the year 1921'', 1921, Calcutta: Thacker, Spink & Co.
* ''Birupa bajra (Play of Opposites)'', 1930, Calcutta: Preonath Das Gupta for the Indian Publishing House.
* ''Bhondor bahadur'', Kolkata: Shishu Sahitya Samsad, 1998, classic children's book

==Family tree==
{{main|Tagore_family#Family_tree}}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:জীবন-স্মৃতি - রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর (page 97 crop).jpg|''"In this patch of light the maids have gathered,... rolling cotton waste into lamp-wicks, and chatting in undertones of their village homes"'', illustration in [[Rabindranath Tagore]]'s ''Jivan Smriti'' ([https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:%E0%A6%9C%E0%A7%80%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%A8-%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AE%E0%A7%83%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF_-_%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%80%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A5_%E0%A6%A0%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%B0_(page_97_crop).jpg&oldid=753878888 জীবন-স্মৃতি], ''[https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/22217 My Reminiscences]''), 1912
Gaganendranath Tagore - Sat-Bhai Champa.jpg|''[[Saat Bhai Champa|Sat-Bhai Champa]]''. Watercolour, 34 × 25 cm, [[Victoria Memorial, Kolkata]]
Gaganendranath Tagore - Meeting at the Staircase - Google Art Project.jpg|''Meeting at the Staircase'', c. 1920–1925
Rising son in law in Bengal, painting by Gaganendranath Tagore - Indian Museum, Kolkata.jpg|''Rising Sun-in-law of Bengal'', a criticism to [[bride burning]]. Indian Museum, Kolkata
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Tagore family]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Anand, Mulk Raj. ''[https://indianhistorycollective.com/the-satirical-genius-of-gaganendranath-tagore-artistic-indianart-bengals-peasantryclass-cartoons-painting-master Gaganendranath Tagore's Realm of the Absurd]''. Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art, 1972.
* {{cite book |author=Roy, Kshitis |title=Gaganendranath Tagore |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F1qNSQAACAAJ |access-date=27 April 2012 |year=1964 |publisher=Lalit Kalā Akademi}}
* Mitter, Partha, ''The Triumph of Modernism: India's artists and the avant-garde 1922-1947'', London, 2007
* {{Citation |publisher=Rāmāyaṇī Prakaśa Bhabana |location=Kolkata |title=Thākurabāṛīra Gaganaṭhākura |author=Pūrṇimā Debī. |date=1975 |oclc=20137196 |ol=4865490M}} (Memoir by Gaganedranath's daughter, in Bengali)

==External links==
{{Commons category|Gaganendranath Tagore}}
* [https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/m04r0_l Profile] on [[Google Arts & Culture]]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7rGW74HYI0 Short film] by [[Films Division of India]] on YouTube
* [https://collections.vam.ac.uk/search/?q=Tagore%2c%20Gaganendranath Artworks] in the collection of [[Victoria and Albert Museum]]
* [http://ngmaindia.gov.in/virtual-tour-of-gaganendranath-tagore.asp Virtual tour] of artworks on [[National Gallery of Modern Art]] website

{{Tagore family}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tagore, Gaganendranath}}
[[Category:Indian editorial cartoonists]]
[[Category:1867 births]]
[[Category:1938 deaths]]
[[Category:Artists from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Indian male painters]]
[[Category:Tagore family|Gaganendranath]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindus]]
[[Category:Bengali male artists]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian painters]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian painters]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Bengali people]]
[[Category:19th-century Bengali people]]
[[Category:People from the Bengal Presidency]]
[[Category:People from Kolkata district]]
[[Category:Painters from British India]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian male artists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male artists]]

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Gaganendranath Tagore