Manhattanville College Hosts Exhibit on Rabindranath Tagore and Bengali Art

By Alexandra Espinal

The Studio Art and the Art History departments at Manhattanville College have put together an art exhibit titled “Rabindranath Tagore and the Bengal School of Art: A Legacy of Writing, Painting, and Music.”

Rabindranath Tagore is a celebrated Bengali author, poet, painter, composer, and humanist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. The Bengal School of Art was a modern art movement started by Tagore’s family that strived to incorporate traditional Indian art, mostly through watercolor.

The show, which was coordinated by Studio Art professor Alka Mukerji, took almost two years to plan. Mukerji started working on the exhibit after attending a conference in Calcutta, where she met a collector who owned handwritten literature by Tagore. “Just touching those letters was incredible,” she said.

All of the works exhibited in the show come from the personal collections of Drs. Nandita Ray, Kalyan Ghosh, and Sudeep Kundu.

Mukerji pointed out that hosting an exhibit about Tagore, who advocated for human rights in India and was passionate about education, is very much in line with the College’s mission. Deborah Saleeby-Mulligan, a professor in the Art History department, echoed those thoughts. “I am so enthusiastic about this project because Tagore’s philosophical outlook, particularly his commitment to social justice and his role as an educator, are very reflective of Manhattanville’s mission and its own commitment to social justice,” she said.

Above all, Mukerji thinks Tagore is an example to follow for students everywhere because he accomplished so much in life. “Tagore made art, poetry, and music. He also established two big universities that are still around today. In one life he did so much, and I think that’s a very good message to bring to our students. We always think that we are doing so much, but actually we are not. We could do so much more.”

The exhibit will run from February 3 to April 8 in the Arthur M. Berger Gallery in the Berman Center, with an opening reception on Wednesday, Feb. 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. The opening reception will feature art, literature, poetry, music, and film focusing on Tagore and the Bengal School of Art.