The painting is currently at the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi,India
Rabindranath Tagore was born in Jorasanko, Thankurbari, Kolkata, India on 7 May 1861 and passed away on 7 August 1941. He was a refined, poet, composer, lyricist, playwright, painter and one of the most important figures of the Bengali Renaissance. Rabindranath Tagore was the composer of the Indian National Anthem "Jan Gana Mana". He was the first Non-European to have received the Nobel Prize and the very first lyricist to be awarded with Nobel Laureate. He was also a painter and his paintings mainly revolved around dark sketches of men and women's faces and animals, since he loved nature.
"Bird Fantastic" isn't some usual painting of a tropical bird by Tagore but a more imaginative piece of art with fluid lines and geometric shapes, that almost appears mythical rather than a real bird.
Tagore has used dark brown, black and earthy tones for this painting with thin lines of white paint to the differentiate between body and wings. The coarse surface gives the painting an ancient and primitive feel.
Rabindranath Tagore's artworks mainly emerged from doodles, experimental marks, creativity, imagination and freedom from traditional styles or themes and Bird Fantastic reveals his painting ideology perfectly. The bird seems to be recognizable, estranged and other worldly that too all at the same time.
This painting of his expresses his ability to turn simple shapes and lines into unmatched pieces of art.
Rabindranath Tagore has managed to capture the form of a bird using ink and only with the lines of the negative spaces left in between. It is a masterful work of surrealism and a study of form and what shape makes the bird a recognizable figure to the human eye.
