Self-Portrait Untitled
Brush and water colour on cotton board
Early 1930s
10 x 7½ in. (26 x 19 cm), mounted
Signed A in Devanagari (lower-right)
Property of a Bengali Collector
NATIONAL ART TREASURE / NON-EXPORTABLE
Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951), nephew of poet Rabindranath Tagore, was the principal artist and creator of Indian Society of Oriental Art and 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. Tagore sought to modernise Mughal and Rajput styles in order to counter the influence of Western models of art, as taught in Art Schools under the British Raj and developed the Indian style of painting, later known as Bengal School of Art. Such was the success of Tagore's work that it was eventually accepted and promoted as a national Indian style within British art institutions under the epithet of Indian Society of Oriental Art.
Abanindranath Tagore is regarded as the Father of India’s Modern Art. His works are now declared as National Art Treasures and cannot be exported out of India.
Provenance:
The self-portrait was purchased by the present collector from another collector, Mr. Chinilal in 1999 at Kolkata.
Certificate
The painting is certified genuine by the famous artist Padma Bhushan Chintamoni Kar on 31st October 1999. Chintamoni Kar (1915-2005) was a renowned Indian sculptor. He was trained at the Indian Society of Oriental Art run by Abanindranath Tagore. He received civilian awards from the Indian and French governments and won an Olympic Silver Medal on behalf of Great Britain.
