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The Art of Peace: Paintings by the poet Rabindranath Tagore
The Art of Peace: Paintings by the poet Rabindranath Tagore
'…our family has
been a confluence of
three cultures, Hindu, Mohammedan and British.'
(Rabindranath Tagore, Hibbert Lectures, Oxford, 1930)
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) is the most famous South Asian literary figure of the twentieth century. He was a poet, writer, statesman, educator and musician whose work and achievements earned him worldwide respect.
Born in Bengal, in eastern India, he was a strong supporter of Bengali unity and opposed the region's division at the end of the British Empire.
He was best known as a composer and poet and was the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize for literature. However, when already 60 years old, he began to paint and created a body of work that made him one of South Asia's great modern painters.
This tour explores Tagore's life and a selection of his artworks.
Illustration: This signed photograph of Rabindranath Tagore was donated to the British Museum by Professor Tony Stewart in 2003 and was probably taken when he was in his seventies.