Pearl of the Formless The Paintings of Rabindranath Tagore

Pearl of the Formless The Paintings of Rabindranath Tagore

Arjun Kumar Singh*

Abstract

Modernity in the context of Rabindranath Tagores paintings starts from this very point of disagreement
with the established norms of paintings. Tagore, for us becomes more significant modernist, because, he not only
opens up the gates of great tradition of Indian art for common man, but also refuses the depiction of any heroes, be
it a god or a king in his paintings!
Rabindranath Tagores paintings are immensely significant because of the fact that they are not an extension of
his other creative expressions like literature, drama and music. It is rather an alternative expression, which refuses
to tread the path made by the Tagore himself for his creations. Tagore, while commenting on his art, said My
pictures are my versification in lines. If by any chance, they are entitled to claim recognition, it must be primarily for
some rhythmic significance of form, which is ultimate and not for any interpretation of an idea or representation of
fact. Rabindranath further clarifies while saying that We have a better knowledge of literature, relatively. That is
because the vehicle of literature is language, which again is dependent on meaning. But lines and colors have no
voice. Interrogated, they silently point out finger to the picture itself, Look see for yourself and ask no questionthey seem to say. Tagores significance does not lie solely in his statements, but in his paintings too, where he
exhibited the rare courage to stand against the conventional concept of art.
Keywords- Anti-Colonialist, Modernity, Neo-Bengali, Expressionism, Indian identity

Introduction
Rabindranath Tagore was a committed anti-colonialist. He had a deep understanding of the
world at large. He visited more than 30 countries and had personal ties with scientists and literary giants
of his time. He was not a revolutionary in a political sense, but he inflamed his people by renouncing his
knighthood after the colonial army indiscriminately killed Indians in Jallianwala Bagh in 1919. He
quietly opened the art wing of his university called `Kala Bhavan` after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
He says in his poetry:
Where the mind is without fear and
the head is held high
where knowledge is free
where the world has not been
broken up into fragments by
narrow domestic walls.1
He wants to counter that fear which was prevailing by the Britishers in Indian mind. English
men want to born a colonial mindset to rule Indian people. But through the painting Tagore tried to
counter a traditional cultural structure, at that time when depiction of gods, epics, heroes from the
unconfirmed history, beautiful women and also the pastoral nature were considered as the only purpose
of art, Tagore brought in the common man in his paintings. Common man as a key character of a
painting not surprising then, that we do not find any reference of god or any known heroes from our
immediate or distant history in the paintings of Tagore. It was the beginning of modernity in Indian art
and Tagore thought that the common man should be the hero of this new culture. He also understands
that through the power of common people we could be enabling to make counter with colonial culture.
Rabindranath Tagore as an artist made a major contribution in the evolution of Indian art by
opening the Kala Bhavan which proved to be a decisive land mark in the history of art. Reflecting on
the plight of his country under foreign rule, Tagore understood that we should awaken our people against
imperialist rule and serve the ultimate purpose of art. Tagore stood against exploitation and injustice in
order to rise above geopolitical, economic and ideological divides. His messages can serve as a vital
source of inspiration for cultural tolerance and lasting peace. Tagore witnessed the making of Neo Indian
(Bengal) Art from very close vicinity, but surprisingly he kept himself away from its influence. He was
well acquainted with the works of Abanindranath, Gaganendranath, Nandlal Bose, Asit Kumar Haldar
and also that of Jamini Roy but his own concepts about painting were immensely different from all these
major artists. Modernity in the context of Tagores paintings starts from this very point of disagreement
with the established norms of paintings. Tagore, for us becomes more significant modernist, because, he
not only opens up the gates of great Indian art for common man, but also refuses the depiction of any
heroes. Tagores significance does not lie solely in his statements, but in his paintings too, where he

Research Scholar, Dept of Fine Arts, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab
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ISSN : 0976-6650

exhibited the rare courage to stand against the conventional concept of art. While commenting on his art,
Tagore said:
My pictures are my versification in lines. If by any chance, they are entitled to claim
recognition, it must be primarily for some rhythmic significance of form, which is
ultimate and not for any interpretation of an idea or representation of fact. Tagore
further clarifies that we have a better knowledge of literature, relatively. That is
because the vehicle of literature is language, which again is dependent on meaning. But
lines and colors have no voice. Interrogated, they silently point out finger to the picture
itself, look see for yourself and ask no question-they seem to say. 2
2. Consciousness and subconscious self
The 18th and 19th century witnessed the emergence of Indian art in the domain of the Western
capitalistic art which was in a large way a counter reaction, paving way for the Bengal School of Art.
The aim and aspiration of the Bengal School of Art movement was to counter the prevalent western
trends and ideologies, to glorify the rich tradition and heritage of Indian art. The movement was initiated
by E B Havel and Abanindranath Tagore and its other important profounder were Swami Vivekananda,
Sister Nivediata, Ananda Coomaraswamy and Percy Brown.
Art historian Mamta Chaturvedi (2010) sites,
This initial spurt was followed by the pioneering work of Rabindranath Tagore who
incorporated experimentation in such a way as to elevate the Indian nationalist art
movement to a world vision level altogether. Tagore, a born innovator and an
iconoclast, believed that an artist should not only be aware of tradition and try to
assimilate its nuances in his unconscious self but also practice his art freely to unearth
new forms and meanings. Tagore differed again from the mundane mass of art
practitioners of his day in that he was very much against the nomenclature and labeling
system which was prevalent at his time. Tagores inspiration led to newer horizons
being touched and in 1940s the Calcutta Group and the Progressive Artists of Bombay
Group deconstructed the style of the Bengal School and created an original style by
assimilating ideals of the contemporary art movements of West with that of the
peripheral Indian folk art. It was highly felt to reject the shadows of stalwarts of the
Bengal school like Abanindranath, Nandlal Bose, Asit K Haldar and to create an
individualistic style using ones own specific notions of tradition, style and belief. 3
Rabindranath witnessed the making of Neo-Indian (Bengal) Art from very close vicinity. As
like as Rabindra sangeet, Tagore also tried to develop the global path of visual arts. He almost
unequivocally sponsored this erroneous quest of Havell and Abanindranath, an art practice that was
removed from people's lives and experiences. Rabindranath's journey towards a new mode of art and a
newer paradigm is exemplified in his establishment of Vishva Bharati, manifested in his experience of
spectacular in the Euro-American art of his time by inviting foreign teachers and artists at Kala Bhaban
and his emergence as an artist in the later phase of his life. In the process Rabindranath deconstructed
tradition, but also inaugurated a new tradition that is never thwarted by the dictates of the classical texts
and antiquated practices. Rabindranath's project of quest for an Indian identity includes the idea of
Hegelian non-identity which is absent in Havell-Abanindranath's project. In order to revive lost identity,
Abanindranath, following Havell's example, chose to lend primacy to aristocratic life passed off as
tradition, within which there were little room for people and their experiences. As such, through Mughal
miniature what he made possible was a form of negation of the present by evoking false memory. As a
result Havel and Abanindranath's Neo-Bengal School project simply got reduced to a search for a false
identity. But Rabindranath, by bypassing this false memory which is devoid of experience, revived a
traditional non-identity based on people's lived experiences. At later he opposed to the Neo-Bengal
project, Rabindranath's identity of non-identity help reveal individual identity of the artist and the
collective identity he/she is a part of. He also think that India, as a place where East and West met to
their mutual enrichment. The development of self in the art Tagore also tried to make the path of modern
Indian art.
3. The formless pearls
While in Japan Rabindranath Tagore saw the paintings of the Japanese masters. In the course of
a letter written to his daughter-in-law in Calcutta, he complained of the inadequacy of the direction
which his nephew Abanindranath Tagore, was taking in art. Out of sheer despair he remarked, "I am not
a painter, but if I were one I would have shown them what a painting is all about." Having said this, the
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Pearl of the Formless The Paintings of Rabindranath Tagore

poet had to wait another three decades before his inherent desire to draw and paint began to be fulfilled
almost by chance. It is said that during his adolescent years he took to drawing but soon withdrew
himself because he discovered that he had neither the talent nor skill to give shape to his thoughts in
terms of form and colour. 4
Tagore had never had any formal training in art. He transformed his lack of formal training of
art into an advantage and opened new horizons as far as the use of line and colors are concerned. He was
prolific in his paintings and sketches and produced over 2500 of these within a decade. Over 1500 of
them are conserved at Viswa-Bharati, Santiniketan. It is evident that in his search of newer forms of
expression in line and color he tried to express significantly different from what he did in his poetry and
songs. He seemed to explore darkness and mystery in his drawings. His self portraits are true
representations of style. According to scholars his self-portraits reflect a deeper psychological need - that
of a creative person always in search of self. His self portrait stands as an art of sheer excellence. He was
immensely attracted to primitive art. Distortion of form and the aberrant use of color characterized his
paintings. Theories of color, mysticism and contemporary speculations are likely to have interested him
and this has found expressions in his paintings. Silence is the chief theme in his paintings. Color, season
and emotion all gain a remarkable dimension in Tagore`s paintings. His paintings had a strange
surrealism and bizarre emotions. About his basic concept of creation Tagore says:
I dive down into the depth of the ocean of forms, hoping to gain the perfect pearl of the
formless. (Gitanjali, 111) 5
This is all the more remarkable when we remind ourselves that the paintings of his illustrious
nephewAbanindranath Tagoreheavily depended upon literary crutches. Though the poet, up to a
point, admired them, evidently he did not share the latter's sensibilities and outlook which he found much
too chauvinistic, lacked contemporaneity and had little to do with the reality around him. Unlike his
nephew, he was free from the pressures of a national identity in whatever the poet drew or painted; but
which, unfortunately, influenced Abanindranath's artistic formulations. In other words, the poet's was a
purely visual expression. And through these expressions he could not tried to repeat his romantic views
but want to reflect present. He was deeply connected with nationalist art movement along with NeoBengali art but he freed himself from this boundary. Through the help of his inner self he brings an
experimental and undefined way of creation- the way without propaganda. About the methodologies of
Tagores painting an eminent contemporary painter Paritosh Sen relates him from the art of abstract
expressionist Paul Klee. He writes:
A statement by Paul Klee gives us another view of the process of creation involved in
artistic activity: it comes quite close to classical Indian thought. "I place myself at a
remote starting point of creation whence I state a priori formulae for men, beasts, plants,
stones and the elements and for all the whirling forces. In my work, I do not belong to the
species, but am a cosmic point of reference." The poet's formulations were also an
approximation of these. It is no wonder then that striking resemblances in many areas of
their respective expressions are noticeable, though not in technique or style. This is
especially noticeable in the manifestation of their imageries, although the nature of their
representation is different. In both cases we see the predominance of three distinct
categories of imageries such as human faces, or portraits; landscapes or representations of
natural objects; mysterious birds and beasts who are not denizens of this world. Both
artists treated the picture surface as two-dimensional, and used line as an important
element to delineate forms. An undercurrent of lyricism pervades their expression.
Finally, there lies a concealed and half-concealed humor in some of the human
representations. Both enjoyed working in the medium of watercolor or colored ink.6
If we would see the path of creation then the process can be divided in two parts. In one the creative
act is guided by the power of one's will, whereas in the other it is completely an involuntary act and, therefore,
instinctive and intuitive. Great modern masters like Cezanne, Gauguin, Picasso, and Matisse belong to the first
category; Miro, Paul Klee and such others belong to the second. But all these painters took up art as their one
and only profession; whereas Tagore was an amateur, albeit one par excellence. It may be pointed out here that
in both cases the emotive content, or the expression, was of primary importance. The sensibility that shaped
their art on one hand had to be contemporary, and on the other global in sense. It is in this context that
Rabindranath Tagore's paintings assume great significance and become relevant to our times. Kainer Smith in
The Birmingham Mail made this in-depth analysis of Tagore:
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Some of these (paintings) are of astounding Power, their very deep tones and
wonderfully harmonious sequence produce exactly the same effect of rhythm as that
which is to be observed in purely linear work, and we might sum up the whole of this
exhibition as being a marvelous example of the sense of balance and of harmony, even
in the most fortuitous of its forms.7
In spring 1930, when on a tour to France, Tagore was advised, by some art critics of local
newspapers who saw his paintings, to hold an exhibition in Paris. He held the first public and
international exhibition of his paintings in Paris in May 1930, at the Gallery Pigalle. The exhibition was
later held in different countries in Europe in the same year. India and his home town Calcutta hosted an
exhibition only in 1931, a year later of Paris exhibition. Tagore`s paintings and sketches fascinated
young German students. The German papers were also equally generous in their expressions on Tagores
paintings. The Muenchener Telegram, Zeitung wrote on 23.07.1930:
The poet calls his paintings Verses in Line. He also announces that for him the
rhythmic form is the important one. The abundance of subjects and not less the
multiplicity of the technical experiments is surprising. The dominating black ink lines
divide the colored washes of color, which in most cases themselves form decorative
patterns. Then the oriental, the Indian mystic breaks through with his fascinating
birds and strange animals of legend finally cut in arabesque and the masks representing
in manifold form the human face.8
On Tagores paintings, Ananda K Coomarswamy who was then at the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston wrote:
An exhibition of drawings by Rabindranath Tagore is of particular interest because it
puts before us, almost for the first time, genuine examples of modern primitive art. 9
Nandalal Bose, the eminent artist in Santiniketan during Tagores tenure, wrote:
There are three major factors in Tagores paintingsrhythm,balance and indulgence.10
Like his unique style he was free and open minded in selecting the medium for his paintings.
Regarding his art and the artist in him, Tagore says, One thing which is common to all arts is the
principle of rhythm which transforms inert materials into living creations. My instinct for it and my
training in its use led me to know that lines and colors in art are no carriers of information; they seek
their rhythmic incarnation in pictures. Their ultimate purpose is not to illustrate or to copy some outer
fact or inner vision, but to evolve a harmonious wholeness which finds its passage through our eyesight
into imagination. It neither questions our mind for meaning nor burdens it with meaninglessness, for it is,
above all meaning.
4. Conclusion
Tagore is our precious guide to innovative experimentation. He was not only a man of letters
but a rare set of distinction. He is the pioneer of modern painting in India but during the early years of his
paintings the response from his countrymen was lukewarm. He was touchy on this point and decided not
to exhibit his paintings in India. This is the core word from Rabindranaths art. After 150 year we still do
not understand his idea of making art. He says that I believe that all human problems find their
fundamental solution in education. He also said Science has given man immense power. The golden
age will return when it is used in the service of humanity.
A teacher is a farmer/ the students heart his fertile land, /values and virtues are the seeds, / he
tirelessly makes the divinity expand
References :
1.
2.
3.
4.

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/celebrating-rabindranath-tagores-legacy/article2026880.ece
www.easternpanorama.in/ Reflection on Paintings of Rabindranath Tagore/ Indrani Sengupta
Chaturvedi Mamta, 2010. Samkaleen Bhartiya kala. Rajasthan Hindi Granth Akademy, Jaipur, pp. 76-81
Sen Paritosh 1991, Pandora's Box: The Original Art of Rabindranath Tagore, India International Centre
Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 3/4, The Calcutta Psyche (Winter1990/1991), pp. 270-280
5. http://www.museindia.com/focuscontent
6. Ibid
7. www.easternpanorama.in/ Reflection on Paintings of Rabindranath Tagore/ Indrani Sengupta
8. Ibid
9. Ibid
10. Ibid

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