WOMENS FACE

NGMA

RABINDRANATH TAGORE was primarily known as a writer, poet,

playwright, philosopher and aesthetician, founder of a unique educational
institution, Visva- Bharati, music composer and choreographer. Tagore’s
emergence as a painter began in 1928 when he was 67 years old. Beginning with
scratchings and erasures on the pages of his manuscripts during the mid-20s of the
20th Century, he slowly moved towards drawing and painting independent images.
Between 1928 and 1940, Rabindranath painted more than 2000 images. He never,
gave any title to his paintings however, in the collection of the NGMA they have
been titled by the institution. Fed by memories and the subconscious,
Rabindranath’s art was spontaneous and dramatic. His images did not represent
the phenomenal world but an interior reality. Rabindranath veered towards
abstraction in his figuration. Expressionism in European art and the primitive art
of ancient cultures inspired him. Fantasy, wild imagination and an innate feel for
the absurd gave a distinctive character to his visual language.
 This is one the most iconic head studies of a veiled woman adopting
Rabindranath’s favourite oval form. The painting has been done in sepia inkand is
lightly textured. The face has a dreamy quality, an elusive beauty with large
understanding eyes. There is a lyricism in the covered head of the woman. Her
sensitive expression echoes the poet’s own empathy with nature and humanity. The
use of sepia ink evokes a sense of nostalgia, as if hers is a face seen in some
evanescent dream.

• Title: Woman's Face

• Creator: Rabindranath Tagore
• Date Created: 1930/1931
• Type: Ink on paper
• Rights: National Gallery of Modern Art, National Gallery of Modern Art

TARUN REDDY
CLASS: 1A
RVCA

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