#abanindranath tagore

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.

Abanindranath Tagore / অবনীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর, b. 1871, d. 1951
Idealised Self Portrait
India (undated)
Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata
[Source]

Wikipediasays:

Abanindranath Tagore was the principal artist and creator of “Indian Society of Oriental Art”. He was also the first major exponent of Swadeshi values in Indian art, thereby founding the influential Bengal school of art, which led to the development of modern Indian painting.