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BOOK OF GAGANENDRANATH
TAGORE CARICATURES PRINTED AT
HIS PVT PRESS
REALM OF THE ABSURD / ADBHUT LOK [in Bangla
script]
By GOGONENDRO NATH TAGORE
A rare book printed by Gaganendranath Tagore at his
home on his private hand press. It has 16 large full-page
lithographs of satirical pictures or caricatures, 7of them
in colour, published in Calcutta in 1917. These poke fun
at the Bengali and Anglo-Bengali culture, customs and
hypocrisy.
Each caricature is printed on one side of the page
only, has the title lithographed below it in English and
Banglaand carries the artist's initials [G.T.].
The cover carries the title in Bangla and English, the
artist's name [GOGONENDRO NATH TAGORE],
the year of publication [1917], the name of the press
[VICHITRA PRESS, 5, DWARKANATH TAGORE'S
STREET, CALCUTTA], and the name of the lithographer
[LITHOGRAPHED BY HARI CH. MANDAL].
Tagore had purchased a lithographic hand press
around 1915 which he installed in his house at 5,
Dwarkanath Tagore Street [address of the press on
the cover], part ofJorasanko Thakurbari, the palatial
house of the Tagores. He named the press as Vichitra
Press after Vichitra Bhavan, the part of the house
where Rabindranath Tagore stayed when he visited
Calcutta from Santiniketan. Here, he sometimes
drew, colouredand printed cartoons, managing to do
everything on the same day, according to Sanjukta
Sunderason, a scholar who has studied Tagore's
caricatures. As the cover shows, he was helped on
the printing side by a lithographer, Hari Mandal, while
the publication side was handled by a professional
establishment [Indian Publishing House, Cornwallis
Street, Calcutta].
This is one of the few examples where, like Picasso,
Chughtai and Sadequain, an Indian artist of repute got
down to personally overseeing the production side of
his work.
The bottom of the back of the page carrying "List of
Pictures" reads as follows:
Letter Press printed by Haricharan Manna at the
Kantik Press - 22, Sukea Street, Calcutta / Published by
Preonath Das Gupta from the Indian Publishing House -
22, Cornwallis Street, Calcutta.
Elephant folio: 17 x 11 inches
CONDITION: Upper cover separated, soiled and
chipped along margins but the caricature itself affected
minimally. No back cover. But acomplete copy with 15
plates inside and the cover constituting the 16th plate,
as stated in the "List of Pictures". A few imperceptible
pinholes, some in the blank margin but the rest hardly
distract from the charm of the rare, quirky and lovely
plates.
A RARITY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE BENGAL
SCHOOL ART PUBLICATIONS.
A single lithograph from this book sold for the hammer
price of Rs 1,90,000 at Pundoles Mumbai auction of 21
April 2016, Lot No. 10.
Rs 7,50,000-Rs 8,50,000
$11,540-$13,080