Alibaba and his Mother

Sunayani Devi, perhaps the first Indian woman artist to sign her works, grew up in the most creative atmospheres possible in the subcontinent—she was the niece of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore and younger sister of Abanindranath and Gaganendranath Tagore. Perhaps, it was inevitable for her to turn to art, even if rather late, post-marriage. An untrained artist, she surprised with the mastery of the line and minimalism, both of which reflect in this work. Traditional stories, mythology and religious epics appealed to her as subjects, and here, she gives a Bengali treatment to the essentially Arabic hero, Alibaba.