Rabindranath Tagore was primarily known as a writer, poet, playwright, philosopher and aesthetician, founder of a unique educational institution, Visva- Bharati, music composer and choreographer. Tagore's emergence as a painter began in 1928 when he was 67 years old. Beginning with scratchings and erasures on the pages of his manuscripts during the mid-20s of the 20th Century, he slowly moved towards drawing and painting independent images.

Between 1928 and 1940, Rabindranath painted more than 2000 images. He never gave any title to his paintings. Fed by memories and the subconscious, Rabindranath's art was spontaneous and dramatic. His images did not represent the phenomenal world but an interior reality.

Rabindranath veered towards abstraction in his figuration. Expressionism in European art and the primitive art of ancient cultures inspired him. Fantasy, wild imagination and an innate feel for the absurd gave a distinctive character to his visual language. The National Gallery of Modern Art has a representative collection of his imagery.

Art historian Ratan Parimoo has said that Rabindranath signed 'Srirabindra' in the very early years of his painting. Rabindranath has often introduced an element of theatre in his paintings and this is manifest in this work, especially with the red background architectural element painted in the work.

Art historian R. Siva Kumar dates this painting to c.1930-31 and descriptively titles it Man with a Beak Nose and Strange Headgear. He notes the medium as 'coloured ink on paper'.