Untitled

A self-taught artist, Gaganendranath Tagore started painting about the time he was thirty-eight. Though he would go on to achieve distinction for his satirical works of art that lampooned the British Raj as well its Indian acolytes, this watercolour work shows his mastery in the delicate medium, with distinct influence of the Japanese wash technique that he learnt from visiting Japanese artists at Santiniketan, established by his Nobel laureate-uncle Rabindranath Tagore. The work captures an ephemeral evening in a city—perhaps Calcutta, as evident from the streetlamp—where a mother-daughter duo silently makes its way home.