Kolkata :
Around 123 original works of Abanindranath Tagore, or Aban Thakur, as he is fondly called, will be on display at the Victoria Memorial from Tuesday onwards. The exhibition has been curated by art expert Ratan Parimu from Vadodara.
While Victoria Memorial is bringing out some of the never-seen paintings from its vaults, a large number of the creations on display will be from Rabindra Bharati Society’s collection, which had been gifted to Victoria authorities for conservation and safekeeping.
The mammoth display will offer glimpses of all the styles that Tagore toyed with and which gave birth to the Bengal school of art.
Though he was trained in Calcutta school of art under European masters like O Ghilardi, who taught him the use of pastels and Charles Palmer, who taught him oil painting, Aban Thakur did not let contemporary European styles influence him. Instead, he thought indigenous styles need to be showcased to the world, especially our own patachitra traditions, Mughal miniatures and Rajasthani styles of paintings. He imbibed these in his own drawing and painting patterns and developed a unique style.
Examples of all the best known innovations by Tagore will be on display like his landmark creations from Hindu mythology like the ‘Slaying of Putana by baby Krishna’ or Goddess Chandika from the attributes of the ‘Chandi Mangal’. Tagore was one of the earliest Indian artists to study wildlife in detail and his lifelike watercolour creations of the cheetah and rhinocerous have often been praised. His portrayal of the fasting Abhaya brings to light characteristics of rural life in Bengal. Some of the best examples of his adaptation from Mughal and Rajasthani miniatures, where the use of gold is striking, will also be on display.
It was not easy to get so many paintings ready. Victoria Memorial director Jayanta Sengupta said, “While the paintings were robust, they needed to be de-acidified and mounted on acid free mount boards for a better life. We have prepared a condition report for each painting, photo documented them and drawn up an accession history. We are calling it in situ conservation.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey / March 03rd, 2015