Osian's Auction Catalogue Masterpieces and Museum-Quality III | March 2004

236 MASTERPIECES & MUSEUM-QUALITY III ABANINDRANATH TAGORE b. 7 August 1871, Calcutta, West Bengal d. 5 December 1951, Barrackpore, West Bengal Education 1890s Studied under the private tutelage of Olinto Gilhardi and Charles Palmer Early 1900s Studied and discovered Indian art with E.B. Havell 1905 Tutored by Yokoyama Taikan on Japanese brushwork Teaching & Infrastructure–building Activities 1890s Established a studio 1892 Drawings reproduced in Rabindranath Tagore’s play, Chitrangada Member, Bharatiya Shilpa Samiti 1895 Book illustration for Abhijnan Sakuntalam by Kalidasa 1896 Illustrations for his own book Ksirer Putul 1902 Paintings reproduced in articles on his works by Havell, in the Studio Magazine 1905 Paintings reproduced in articles on his works by Havell, in the Studio Magazine Paintings reproduced in magazines The Modern Review and Prabasi 1905 Secretary, Bangiya Kala Samsad 1905-6 Vice-Principal, Government College of Arts & Craft, Calcutta. His department was known as the Advanced Design Class. 1906-9 Acting Principal, Government College of Arts & Craft, Calcutta, after the resignation of E.B. Havell as Principal. 1907 Founding member and Joint Secretary, the Indian Society of Oriental Art, Calcutta 1908 Paintings reproduced in articles on his works by Havell, in the Studio Magazine Colour plates of paintings reproduced by Ramanand Chatterjee in his journal The Modern Review and also sold as prints The Music Party published in Okakura’s Kokka 1909-1915 Percy Brown was brought in as Principal and Abanindranath made Vice- Principal Abanindranath ultimately resigned from the art school and set up his own teaching class 1918 Drawings reproduced in Rabindranath Tagore’s works Gitanjali , Fruit Gathering and The Parrot’s Training 1930-8 Wrote ‘Jatras’ or folk dramas on themes from the Mahabharata and other Puranic stories 1940 Created toys called ‘Kutum Katum’ from roots and branches of trees, made to resemble an animal or human form Founder, Bengal School Formed the purchase committee of the Government Art Gallery, along with Gaganendranath Tagore, Justice Woodroffe, Norman Blount, Rueboson and Muller Solo Exhibitions 1900 Government College of Arts & Craft, Calcutta (Inaugurated by Lord Curzon) 1914 Retrospective , Imperial Institute, London (April–May) 1924 Travelling exhibition, U.S.A (Organised by American Federation of Art & the Indian Society of Oriental Art) 1976 Academy of Fine Arts and Rabindra Bharati Society, Calcutta (16–27 August) 1978 Academy of Fine Arts and Rabindra Bharati Society, Calcutta (26 August–5 September) 1979 Academy of Fine Arts and Rabindra Bharati Society, Calcutta (1–7 September) Awards & Honours 1902-3 The Passing of Shah Jahan , Silver Medal, Delhi Durbar Exhibition of Indian arts and crafts 1903 The Passing of Shah Jahan , Gold Medal, Congress Industrial Exhibition, Calcutta 1913 Congress Industrial Exhibition, Calcutta (2 June) Select Collections Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Kolkata British Royal Family Collection, Windsor Castle, [U.K.] Indian Museum, Kolkata National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi Oriental and India Office Library & Records, London [U.K.] Osian’s–Connoisseurs of Art Archive Rabindra Bharati Society, Kolkata Rabindra Bharati University Museum, Kolkata Osian’s/Tuli. Masterpieces & Museum- Quality Modern & Contemporary Paintings . Mumbai 2002. (L65) Art Heritage. K.G. Subramanyan: Paintings . New Delhi: January 2003. Osian’s/Tuli. Figurative Non-Figurative Narration . Mumbai 2003. (L148 & L178) Sarjan Art Gallery. Reflection. Vadodara 2003. [Ex. 24–8 February] Newspaper & Magazine Articles Gieve Patel. ‘Subramanyan’s Paintings’ in The Times Of India 8 September 1966, Bombay. Arun Ghose. ‘In Search of Total Art’ in Art India Vol.1 No.4 1997, Bombay Hans Mathews. ‘The Twister’ in Art India Vol.4 No.4 1999, Mumbai. Bernadette Da Cunha. ‘Collector’s Dream’ in The Times Of India 24 September 2002, Mumbai. Madhu Jain. ‘Parlour and Streets’ in Outlook 3 February 2003, New Delhi. Ratnottama Sengupta. ‘Object of Art’ in The Times of India 21 February 2003, Mumbai. Gayatri Sinha. ‘Age No Bar To His Perspective’ in The Hindu 2 March 2003, Chennai. ‘Art Quest’ in The Free Press Journal 5 December 2003, Mumbai.