Bengal School of Art�

• The Bengal School of Art, commonly referred as Bengal School, was an art movement and a style of Indian painting that originated in Bengal, primarily Kolkata and Shantiniketan, and flourished throughout the Indian subcontinent, during the British Raj in the early 20th century. Also known as 'Indian style of painting' in its early days, it was associated with Indian nationalism (swadeshi) and led by Abanindranath Tagore (1871–1951), but was also being promoted and supported by British arts administrators like E. B. Havell, the principal of the Government College of Art and Craft, Kolkata from 1896; eventually it led to the development of the modern Indian painting.
• The Bengal school arose as an avant garde and nationalist movement reacting against the academic art styles previously promoted in India, both by Indian artists such as Raja Ravi Varma and in British art schools. Following the influence of Indian spiritual ideas in the West, the British art teacher Ernest Binfield Havell attempted to reform the teaching methods at the Calcutta School of Art by encouraging students to imitate Mughal miniatures. 

​

Personal life and background�

ABANINDRANATH TAGORE WAS BORN IN JORASANKO, CALCUTTA, BRITISH INDIA, TO GUNENDRANATH TAGORE AND SAUDAMINI DEVI. HIS GRANDFATHER WAS GIRINDRANATH TAGORE, THE SECOND SON OF "PRINCE" DWARKANATH TAGORE. HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE DISTINGUISHED TAGORE FAMILY, AND A NEPHEW OF THE POET RABINDRANATH TAGORE. HIS GRANDFATHER AND HIS ELDER BROTHER, GAGANENDRANATH TAGORE, WERE ALSO ARTISTS.

ABANINDRANATH LEARNED ART WHILE STUDYING AT SANSKRIT COLLEGE, KOLKATA IN THE 1880S.

IN 1890, ABANINDRANATH ATTENDED THE CALCUTTA SCHOOL OF ART WHERE HE LEARNT TO USE PASTELS FROM O. GHILARDI, AND OIL PAINTING FROM C. PALMER, EUROPEAN PAINTERS WHO TAUGHT IN THAT INSTITUTION.^[4]

IN 1889, HE MARRIED SUHASINI DEVI, DAUGHTER OF BHUJAGENDRA BHUSAN CHATTERJEE, A DESCENDANT OF PRASANNA COOMAR TAGORE. HE LEFT SANSKRIT COLLEGE AFTER NINE YEARS OF STUDY AND STUDIED ENGLISH AS A SPECIAL STUDENT AT ST. XAVIER'S COLLEGE, WHICH HE ATTENDED FOR ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF.

​

Early life�

• In the early 1890s several of his illustrations were published in Sadhana magazine, and in Chitrangada, and other works by Rabindranath Tagore. He also illustrated his own books. Around 1897 he took lessons from the vice-principal of the Government School of Art, studying in the traditional European academic manner, learning the full range of techniques, but with a particular interest in watercolour. It was during this period that he developed his interest in Mughal art, producing a number of works based on the life of Krishna in a Mughal-influenced style. After meeting E. B. Havell, Tagore worked with him to revitalise and redefine teaching of art at the Calcutta School of Art, a project also supported by his brother Gaganendranath, who set up the Indian Society of Oriental Art.

Paintings�

"Ganesh-janani" by Abanindranath Tagore

Abanindranath Tagore's Konnagar Baganbari in 2014 (Before Restoration

Paintings

Bharat Mata (c. 1905)

The Passing of Shah Jahan (1900)

Paintings

My Mother (1912–13)

Fairyland illustration (1913)

Paintings

Journey's End (c. 1913)

The Final Release, from the book "Buddha and the gospel of Buddhism" (1916)

Paintings

Abanindranath Tagore: His Life, Work and Indian Modern Art

Paintings

Celebrating Abanindranath Tagore, the art teacher for a modern India

About Abanindranath Tagore Tissarakshita Queen Of Ashoka

Paintings

• Title: My Mother
• Creator: Abanindranath Tagore

​

THANKS

• Dr. Shailender Kumar
• Assist.Prof.
• Fine Arts Dept.