Skip to main content

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam pictured by Abanindranath Tagore. image 1
Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam pictured by Abanindranath Tagore. image 2
Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam pictured by Abanindranath Tagore. image 3
Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam pictured by Abanindranath Tagore. image 4
Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam pictured by Abanindranath Tagore. image 5
Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam pictured by Abanindranath Tagore. image 6
Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam pictured by Abanindranath Tagore. image 7
Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam pictured by Abanindranath Tagore. image 8
Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam pictured by Abanindranath Tagore. image 9
Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam pictured by Abanindranath Tagore. image 10
Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam pictured by Abanindranath Tagore. image 11
Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam pictured by Abanindranath Tagore. image 12
Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam pictured by Abanindranath Tagore. image 13
Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam pictured by Abanindranath Tagore. image 14
Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam pictured by Abanindranath Tagore. image 15
Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam pictured by Abanindranath Tagore. image 16
Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam pictured by Abanindranath Tagore. image 17
Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam pictured by Abanindranath Tagore. image 18
Rubaiyat Omar Khayyam pictured by Abanindranath Tagore
Lot 32

Abanindranath Tagore
(1871-1951)
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam pictured by Abanindranath Tagore.

1 – 10 September 2025, 12:00 BST
Online, London, New Bond Street

Sold for £1,536 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951)

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam pictured by Abanindranath Tagore.
Version of Edward Fitzgerald's first edition (1859) with Twelve illustrations by Abanindranath Tagore measuring 31.2 x 24.1 cm each (12 5/16 x 9 1/2 in).
Ed. Offices of the Studio'44 Leicester Square WCMCMX. Printed by EYRE & SPOTTISWOODE, Ltd., His Majesty's Printers, East Harding Street, London, E.C.
Folio 32.6 x 25 x 3.2 cm (12 13/16 x 9 13/16 x 1 1/4)

Footnotes

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.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

Francis Newton Souza(India, 1924-2002)Untitled (Head)