A Music PartyAbanindranath TagoreBengal, India, 1905Watercolors on paperA group of people sit and li

A Music Party

Abanindranath Tagore

Bengal, India, 1905

Watercolors on paper

A group of people sit and listen to a lady playing a sitar. The setting is that of a Mughal court, with Mughal style architecture in the background and the setting sun visible through the arches.

The artist, Abanindranath Tagore (1871 - 1951) was the pioneer and leading exponent of the Bengal School of Art, which flourished between 1905 and 1920. In his paintings, he sought to counter the influence of Western art as taught in art schools under the British Raj, by modernizing indigenous Moghul and Rajput traditions. His work became so influential that it was eventually accepted and regarded as a national Indian style.