The Dance
| Title | The Dance |
| Accession Number | ngma-01754 |
| Museum Name | National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi |
| Gallery Name | NGMA-New Delhi |
| Object Type | Painting |
| Main Material | Watercolour & ink on paper |
| Main Artist | Gaganendranath Tagore (1867-1938) |
| Artist's Nationality | Indian |
| Artist's Life Date / Bio Data | Born to the family of Tagore's of Jorasanko, Kolkata, Gaganendranath was the elder brother of Abanindranath Tagore. With little formal training in art Gaganendranath began painting at an advanced age. He was inspired by the calligraphic brushwork and the wash technique of the visiting Japanese artists, Yokoyama Taikan and Hishida Shunsho. In the early 20's of the Twentieth century, Gaganendranath responded positively to the European modernist idiom. He began painting seriously when he started illustrating his uncle Rabindranath Tagore's autobiography in 1911. Gaganendranath like his younger brother Abanindranath and uncle Rabindranath had a wide range of interests that covered theatre, fantasy and the like. He also practiced photography and this can be seen in the use of light and shadows in his paintings. From 1917 onwards he did a series of satirical caricatures of changes taking place in the society of his times. Many of his paintings were referred to as 'cubist' because of the division of the figures and ground into geometrical planes. Gaganendranath painted portraits, landscapes, caricatures, abstract and 'cubist' paintings. |
| Country | India |
| Period / Year of Work | 1921 |
| Inscription | Signed and dated 'G.T. 1921' in English at the bottom left corner of the painting in black ink. |
| Dimensions | 18.3 X 26.7 cms |
| Detailed Description | This satirical image of an Europeanised Bengali couple engaged in western dance must have been a popular theme. Gaganendranath Tagore painted cartoons and then printed them at the Lithographic press that he had installed in his Jorasanko mansion. Gaganendranath began painting cartoons and caricatures from 1915 onwards and continued making them till 1921. Dancing couple appears to have been a favourite because aversion of this image where the lady is more elaborately dressed was seen in the second album of cartoons, Advit Lok published in 1916. Yet another version of this image was done in 1921 where the lady's clothes are little more decorative than this one. The second version can be seen in The Humorous Art of Gaganendranath Tagore with an introduction by O.C. Ganguly published by the Birla Academy of Art and Culture. |
| Brief Description | |