Nath Lady
50 x 37 cm; 20 x 15 in
From the early twentieth century onwards, the desire to fuse the mystical with the real became a point of growing concern for the artist Abanindranath Tagore. His works from the 1930s clearly reflect these desires and are infused with a sense of the ethereal. His figures from this period appear suspended in space, enwrapped in a state of meditative bliss. The delicate fluid lines that characterize his works are coupled with his use of soft mellow tones to evoke an aura of the spiritual. The influence Japanese art had on Abanindranath?s artistic development is suggested in these works, not only in terms of the subject matter but also in his adroit handling of the brush and medium. ?These heads are usually demarcated all around in such a way that there is no suggestion that they rest on a human torso. Certain of them have mongoloid physiognomy like stumped noses and slit eyes which may have been derived from Japanese prototypes?? Ratan Parimoo, The Paintings of the Three Tagores: Abanndranath, Gaganendranath and Rabindranath. Maharaja Sayaji University of Baroda, Baroda, 1973.