
Priya Singh
Head of Department
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Head of Department

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Provenance
Property from a private collection, UK.
Abanindranath Tagore, the leading figure of the Bengal School and a pioneer of modern Indian art, brought his distinctive vision to the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam in a series of twelve illustrations created between 1906 and 1911. Working in his quintessential style—marked by the delicacy of wash technique, lyrical line, and atmospheric restraint—Tagore reinterpreted the Persian poet's verses in a manner that was both philosophically resonant and artistically innovative.
His images weave together the mystical thought of Khayyam with the aesthetic sensibility of Japanese mono-no-aware, a sensitivity to impermanence and the fleeting beauty of life. This synthesis enabled Tagore to move beyond colonial academic conventions, offering instead a contemplative, distinctly Indian perspective on the poem's enduring themes of transience, longing, and transcendence.
By blending Persian motifs with East Asian influences and a deeply personal visual language, Abanindranath's Rubaiyat stands as a testament to his ability to situate global texts within the cultural and spiritual framework of the Bengal Renaissance. The series not only illuminates Khayyam's meditations but also subtly asserts an anti-colonial reimagining of art, where Indian modernism found its voice through hybridity, introspection, and poetic restraint.