Abanindranath Tagore
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National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi
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Present collection: Accession No. 1164
Chagol is a small watercolour by Abanindranath Tagore depicting a lone goat set against a rough landscape of rocks, vegetation and dark earth hues. Rather than a study in animal anatomy, Abanindranath integrates the goat into the landscape, so that the scene around the animal, and particularly the rocky outcrop at the back, becomes almost as prominent as the animal itself.
The goat is shown in side profile, with its head turned towards the viewer while the body runs horizontally through the middle of the picture. The animal's coat is rendered in loose, layered strokes of paint rather than clearly defined outlines. Its horns and facial features are indicated with relatively restrained lines of black ink or paint, while the body blends into the overall arrangement of dark greens, browns and greyish tones. The impression is one of atmosphere rather than identification: the goat seems to emerge from the landscape as much as to stand in it.
Massive rocky formations take up much of the background, rendered in loose washes of brown, grey, ochre and black pigment. Vegetation takes hold around the animal and along the lower part of the rocky outcrop, while the overall impression of the background is one of compression and enclosure. The lack of a more elaborately developed setting makes this painting unexpectedly direct in Abanindranath's oeuvre.
The NGMA specifically identifies the rocky formation at the back of the picture as the key to associating the work with the artist's Darjeeling series of approximately 1919-20.
The painting should be seen not as a 'goat study' but rather as an example of the way Abanindranath used animals and landscape to evoke mood and a sense of poetry.
Abanindranath painted numerous animals and birds in his career. Although NGMA notes that he created a series of images focussing on animal life particularly around 1915-16, individual animal works also belong to later periods. The museum adds that the depiction of animals in Abanindranath's work could carry a sense of narrative or emotion rather than simply serving naturalist observation.
The goat is not shown like an academic study in animal anatomy. Instead, the animal's relationship with the landscape contributes to an overall impressionistic effect.
This fits with a larger tendency in Abanindranath's work: NGMA describes his paintings as characterised by a delicacy and sensibility in the rendering of forms, a sensitivity to colour, tone and texture, and a poetic approach to the depiction of nature. Sensitivity and 'poetic' transformation of forms are emphasised as qualities that combined traditionalist elements with innovation, transforming natural forms into something simultaneously representational and sensuous.
Abanindranath visited Darjeeling in 1919-20, producing a series of landscape paintings inspired by the local Himalayan environment. A modern chronology of his career also records 1919-20 as the period when Abanindranath created his Darjeeling series.
To me, Chagol feels less like a painting of a goat and more like a quiet moment in nature. The goat seems to naturally belong to the rocky surroundings instead of standing out from them. Its turned head makes me feel as if it has suddenly noticed the viewer. The dark greens, browns and grey tones create a calm but slightly lonely mood. I also like how Abanindranath has not focused on making the goat look perfectly detailed. The loose strokes make the whole scene feel soft and almost dreamlike. For me, the painting shows how something as ordinary as a goat can become poetic when placed within a beautiful and peaceful landscape.
