(1867 - 1938)
Born in Kolkata on 18 September 1867, Gaganendranath was the nephew of Rabindranath Tagore. A self-taught artist, Gaganendranath had very little formal education. Channelling the socio-political and cultural turbulence at the time, and his unwavering love for swadeshi or indigenous arts and crafts, Tagore developed a language for his visual medium. He combined his mastery over the European watercolour technique with his eye for detail and created a series of works spanning his career. Between 1916 and 1918, he developed a unique language of humour and satire in caricature. His work was featured in magazines and newspapers, giving birth to the Vichitra club. From 1923 to 1928, he experimented with cubism, producing a series of pictures filled with blended geometric forms. Tagore’s works underwent a transformation that can be seen in phases: Japanese-style calligraphic works, the Himalayan and Chaitanya series, his tryst with cubism, representations of folk lore. The majority of Tagore’s works is now part of the Rabindra-Bharati Society Collection at Jorasanko, Kolkata. The artist passed away on 14th February 1938.