Exhibition shows Tagore as a painter

By Chung Ah-young

Rabindranath Tagore, the Indian poet and first non-European Nobel laureate, is known for his landmark collection of poems titled “Gitanjali” in 1913. For many Koreans, his poem “A Light of the East” is widely known.

But he was, in essence, a Renaissance man who excelled in various fields.

He showed great interest and talent in painting, which reflected his thoughts in his late career.

To showcase his late period as an artist, the National Museum of Korea is holding an exhibition titled “Paintings of Rabindranath Tagore — The Last Harvest,” featuring 49 works and related books through Nov. 27.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of Tagore’s birth and the 80th anniversary of his death. In India, nationwide commemoration events are being held and the exhibition is part of them.

Organized by the National Gallery of Modern Art in India and the Indian Culture Ministry, the exhibition will move to the United Kingdom after Korea.

His paintings were highly appreciated not only in his home country but also in Western nations and continue to inspire many Indian artists.

Although he only began painting in his mid-60s, the artist influenced the Indian modern art scene from the early 20th century in many ways. At that time, he was immersed in pan-humanism and affected by the exchanges with the world art scene.

Tagore, who didn’t receive an official art education, encountered the trends of Eastern, primitive and modern art and found himself as a painter. He transformed a good sense of rhythm in his literary talent into visual art.

“One thing which is common to all arts is the principle of rhythm which transforms inert materials into living creations. My instinct for it and my training in its use led me to know that lines and colors in art are no carriers of information; they seek their rhythmic incarnation in pictures. Their ultimate purpose is not to illustrate or to copy some outer fact or inner vision, but to evolve a harmonious wholeness which finds its passage through our eyesight into imagination. It neither questions our mind for meaning nor burdens it with unmeaningness, for it is, above all, meanings,” Tagore said in 1930.

After he held his first exhibition in May 1930 with the help of friends, the artist toured European and American cities for six months. While his music and writings were for Indians, his paintings had a universal value to break through language barriers and found success with Western audiences.

He drew without a set object, letting his pen and brush move freely. He left numerous paintings without titles. Thus, most of his works at the exhibition are untitled. To help understand his artistic world, the exhibition consists of four parts according to the objects.

In the first section, “Imaginary Animals,” works show that an early form of his artistic portrayal was inspired by primitive art such as imaginary animals.

The second part “Landscapes and Flowers” shows his interest moved onto natural landscapes. In this period, not only landscapes but also figure paintings appeared together.

The third part “Figures Telling Stories in Gestures and Dramatic Scenes” features paintings that depict diverse gestures of people. In this period, Tagore saw the human body not as a simple form but as an entity containing a seed of drama that tells stories visually.

Lastly, “Faces” deals with diverse portraits including a mask of an ancient priest and individual characters.

For more information, visit www.museum.go.kr.