Coursework dissertation : The Role of the Feminine and its evolution

in Tagore and some other contemporary artists

By Darshana Bhattacharya, Calcutta International School, A2

candidate, 2015

Introduction:-
My project aims to explore the mature depiction of feminine existence, exposing
its subtly nuanced, powerful emotional hold over other planes (imaginative and
spiritual) ,which run parallel along with our ordinary vision of the external world.
Despite facing unthinkable struggle since thousands of years with one of its
greatest enemies often being females themselves, the lonely position of woman,
who is very special and whose intelligently perceptive, sensitive existence aspiring
for beauty; true liberation (I’m showing it as a character to enhance visual power,
life which would reflect throughout), depicting true humanity; remains however
suppressed in this world. My presently isolated, hyper sensitively thoughtful,
inner development empathizes with the topic. The major inspirational force is
Rabindranath Tagore whose depiction I will follow gradually, at the beginning
including a few artists of other origins than Bengal, portraying similar sentiments
which would be supported in the analysis by the important visual elements
connecting often with appropriate books, dramas, so on. These research
observations would continue throughout the themes supporting the Tagorean
inspiration which stands out as a cultural landmark in our country. I believe that
the way in which females are represented in his work is very relevant even today.
.Mother and Child (Pablo Picasso):-

The subtle yet most

evident dominance of the darkly nuanced , probably cerulean blue hue is strongly
atmospheric of a somber, stone cold, hard life the sense of which is a major
feature of the blue period where homeless, unloved, often out of the main stream
people have played a most prominent role. The stony pale, long, thin, sharp face
of the veiled mother with closed eye lids brings a contrast on one one hand of : a
sense of a bit of peace found in that little corner of shelter ;on the other evokes
an uncanny abnormality in the pale, unusually quiet, trouble free expression as if
she has silently died from cold, in peace, in the child’s company. The light, sap
greenish, head of the child brings morbidity about the stiff, inexpressive face with
lowered eyes. Yet love reflects wonderfully where the mother’s cheek has
touched the little head, the small figure is protected, wrapped in the miserable
but familiar clothing. The strength of compassion is persistent amidst the cold
negligence.

The attire, the posture: huddled, wrapped in, probably a long shawl with the
back supported against a wall, establishes a sense of poverty and deprivation. The
prominent, black borders amplifying structural details of the mother, subtly
conveys a message of experiencing a challenging reality. The greenish highlights
enhance the morbidity.

Helga against a tree in a sunlit landscape (Andrew Wyeth):-

Helga and all other figures by Wyeth are always alone, merging often as here,
with their surrounding nature, as if the character has palpably become a part of
the quiet but the all witnessing trees, grasslands. The arrival of the whitish,
illuminating sunshine often plays an important role in this realist artist’s works as
in, The Sunshield too. The sunshine strengthens this unworldly presence evoking
similarities in its often universal treatment .The long afternoons with the
continuous calling of Doves, in some small, unknown, rural village of Bengal, as
depicted by one of our most revered classic writers: Bibhuti Bhushan
Bandopadhyay (Banerjee); Tagore’s manifestation of the clear, peaceful sun in a
blue, Autumn sky of Bengal, all signify a precious loneliness in individual ways. The
female’s closeness with it as if in some mysterious plane, is obvious since
millenaries. Her( woman’s) image arrives automatically to an artist when a more
serious, time taking philosophy is pondered upon. Helga leans against the tree,
her face reflecting a different mental state, as if habituated to this strange home.
She resembles Lucy (creation of William Wordsworth), who went through valleys
and hills and of whose ordinary family background we never get to know; who
appears , like Helga, in the heart of meadows, wilderness where ordinary human
interference is unwelcome. The division of light and shade as upon Helga’s face
,with the presence of the latter also shown in the wonderful, gradually darkening
shadows from light, at other places(like on the branches and grass), is extremely
important for the strong sensation of warmth as well as coolness, the joy amidst
this playful contrast enhances the moods as discussed.

Little girl in the Woods (Vincent Van Gogh):-

This is one of the less known works but of course its anonymity makes its solely
symbolic existence all the more profound. This appears to be an obvious
reflection of the internal person, its existence inside. Here dominates an immense
quietness all about; in the middle of the woods with the sky reaching trees
standing together in uniformity surrounded by a thick, brown mood, the tiny girl
does not go unnoticed. It seems as though it is she who would convey in some
way with the forlorn little brush in one hand; the mute but deep, rich, essential
message of the unknown, extended forest on all sides, the tone and treatment of
which empathize as if with the darkness, the struggle which stayed in the core of
Van Gogh’s life along with career. Thus the feminine existence being ever veiled
but mysteriously ever prevalent, gives shape to the unutterable, urgent
sentiments. The lowered face of the girl, with the shadow of a part of the hat on
the face and the unclear eyes, radiates something beyond the general definition
of loneliness. She doesn’t seem to be smiling and this head with the face beside
the body language, posture; bring an other -worldliness to the extent of
appearing somewhat uncanny due to our general tendency of fearing the
unknown. The feminine exposes its solely internal search for something amidst an
uncannily in depth world beyond the reach of routine thought patterns.

Importance of this theme in Tagore’s life (Introduction):-

Mysterious faces and figures either lightly veiled by dark shadows or brightly ink
washed landscapes (predominantly of women ; if not always in that sense; they
are strange, poetic, feminine ones) , are a well known presence not only in his
paintings, but also songs, short stories, beside other art genres and needless to
say his personal life. Very importantly and similarly to Christ, he had said that half
of his spirit was of female and had also often been called Shelley of Bengal (as this
famous romantic era poet was in all ways close to the feminine existence too).
Due to Tagore’s unusually refined sensitivity reflecting to some extent on his
beautiful features also in childhood, he was often thought to be a girl by the other
boys at school with whom he couldn’t mix. Perhaps that’s why he could
empathize so well with the shy, awkward, sufferings ones, such as the ignored
women in society. The Goddess of Muse showed him his destiny and all his works
pay tribute to Her directly or indirectly. A number of women played significant
roles in his intimate friend circles: His wife( Mrinalini Devi), sister in law
(Kadambari Devi), and Victoria Ocampo (the poet; a patron of art, therefore his
admirer, encouraged by whom Tagore started painting late in life). He missed her
and the premature deaths of the first two women along with the loss of his two
daughters: Madhurilata and Renuka, his especially dear ones, left deep scars in his
mind. He is said to have told the artist Nandalal Bose that while painting the
image of his late sister in law’s eyes appeared. Strange shapes, dreams and visions
afflicted him, especially at night: ‘The phantoms of faces come unbidden into my
vacant hours.’ (Tagore). His concept of Jeevan Devta or the Lord of Life most
inspirationally encompasses his exceptional life of a multi talented, thinker and
artist. It importantly conveys his core philosophy of considering true ‘life’ as the
mysteriously prevalent , emotionally powerful feminine (core of art); which often
includes our simple but nostalgic experiences. This ever inquisitive side in us
occasionally meets but is constantly supported by a directly spiritual response to
all conflicts which is Devta or Lord.

A self portrait by Tagore: two similar looking women with a green

background:-

The standing one with an unclear yellow ochre key in one hand, in a brightly ink
washed attire bordered with bright yellow has a more prominently suffering
expression: the ever patient eyes and a slight bend to the posture. The sitting
figure’s face surrounded by the dense, straight, black hair, indicates to its
transportation to another world, to the experience of a peculiar peace after a
long, exhaustive struggle reflecting through the expression of the eyes. Both,
significantly seem to be two aspects of Tagore. The sitting one is as if surrounded
by a quiet land of experiences and expressions (the hair), where Tagore
experienced the loneliness in the course of his creations, while the other is the
spiritually alert one sensing the presence of a yet to be discovered land, occupied
by an eager search. The hair, uniform and long, often hiding half the faces indicate
an ever prevalent mystery, through an adventurous, creative journey. The half-
hazard treatment of colour producing excited, vibrant combinations is a uniquely
Tagorean feature which strongly impacts here also.

Importance of the theme in Tagore’s and Bibhuti Bhushan’s solely

written art genres:-
Rabindranath and Bibhuti Bhushan through their immortal self identification with
and empathy towards the neglected, the anonymous in society, have shown that
victory in the long run goes to them. Tagore has protested against the feudal
torture of women by writing the short story: Wife’s Letters (my translated title
from Bengali) and innumerous more. Also similarly to Bibhuti Bhushan ,he has
always seen our external death as an adventurous destination to reach a greater
truth which doesn’t tolerate any unkindness and there the neglected reigns with
its feminine power. As Banerjee describes it when one of the critical female
characters in his visibly autobiographical novel ( Pather Panchali or Song of the
Road as titled in English in its internationally awarded cinema by Satyajit Ray) ,
Durga has died extremely young: ‘In Durga’s impatient, noisy stage of life’(spirit of
the young), ‘ its biggest of all the calls of the unknown has arrived.’ In a short
story of a rural , dumb girl , by Tagore, we find significantly symbolic instances:
‘When the entire world amidst all the work would suddenly acquire a terribly
solitary look’ (in the noons) ‘under the infinite sunlit sky, only a dumb mother
nature’(a river) ‘and a dumb girl would sit face to face - one in the extensive
sunshine while the other in the shade of a small tree.’ ; ‘Late in some moonlit
nights, she would discover the full moonlit nature to be as friendless as her. On
the edge of this silenced, eager to speak nature, a silenced, and eager to speak
girl would stand.’(Tagore).All those who led this uniquely speechless life: animals,
trees, such others, spoke for her; her big black eyes reflected her words, a special
language the intensity of which is often greater than our ordinary phonetically
structured language and any sentiment is therefore much easily effective for such
speakers than it is for others. Sorrow makes one more mature and allows one to
step towards the immortal unknown as Banerjee manifests in his own way by the
deaths of the nearest ones and poverty, deprivation beside other elements. The
hero of Pather Panchali and also of its second part: Aparajita or Undefeated,
thinks by looking at the star clusters far above, that the loss of all his most
beloved ones, one by one: sister, father, mother, then his closest college friend,
finally wife, has revealed to him greater mysteries. While leaving their ever
familiar little village for going to settle in Banaras during the end of Pather
Panchali the little hero : Apu, could see from the train; far away his late sister:
Durga standing, watching their train remorsefully! No one did really mind leaving
her. No one loved her, the allies, the bamboo groves, where they played together;
the dark little shack with its every corner echoing her affectionate presence, were
being left, as if now he truly got separated from her forever! Banerjee manifested
the unfathomable love of a poor rural mother for her little son who wants to go
far away from home to study: a frightful and painful proposition for her who
doesn’t know much more than her husband’s means of income, which was by
serving as a poor Brahmin priest in the villagers’ houses whenever he was
needed. Before bringing this news to her , one evening when Apu had gone out
after coming back from school without having any meal, refusing to skip school
for any little religious occasion, with his mother awaiting him the whole day, also
without having a meal; the field, riverside, the distant , dusky horizon’s clouds,
were reddened with his mother’s sorrow. The late shadowed evening with its
light and shade resembled his mother’s sorrow filled heart. Another novel
depicting a stage of a man’s life in the forest of Labtulia : a tribal belt in Bihar,
renowned for its strange beauty as well as inexplicable poverty, describes how
during certain fairs when cheap vendors and entertainers came from distant
places , they cheated the innocent , young tribal girls by selling them boxes of
cheap cosmetics and jewellery at very high prices to often, also take them for a
ride.
:-Painting by Tagore revealing to me the great Feminine in the form of an
innocent and enchanting, tribal or rural girl.

Presence of the feminine in Tagore’s songs:-

‘They embrace the outsiders and quit their close ones- Outside amidst the noise
of flutes they quit their homes. They love in all conditions tolerate pain with a
smiling face; make death ever dependent on life. They embrace the outsiders and
quit their close ones’(my translation of ‘Era por ke apon kore- aponare por’.) This
song goes understated of its mysterious addressee but by the way of mentioning
quitting ‘close ones’ ‘amidst the noise of flutes,’ it is finally considered to be an
emphatically empathetic expression towards the condition of newlywed brides, a
piercingly understanding demonstration of those young women’s power to slight
the fear of death , by their special strength developed through the struggle
against the terrible injustice in numerous ways towards the vulnerable, since
millenaries : ‘make death ever dependent on life.’ This piercingly emotive and
therefore impacting revelation of such dark practices in society which have
contemptuously treated women’s emotions and in the name of religion or
tradition have kept a vital section of humanity malnourished, in the dark , by
letting anyone decide their destiny but themselves; reflects wonderfully in this
painting of a newlywed bride by Tagore. This is an ingenious representation of
profound sentiments and symbolism in Tagore’s uniquely abstract at the same
time remorsefully understandable for all significance: the fiery bright glimpses of
a typical , bright red wedding sari of Bengal, with prominent dark shades on it in
alignment with the claustrophobic obscurity surrounding the bride and in
alignment with the realistically expressive, profoundly pensive face with haunting,
mournful eyes; with illuminating brownish clearings from the deep shadows at
places. The attractive, sparkling red sari and the occasional appearances of the
golden jewellery, trying to indicate to all the beautiful offerings to the bride are
dominated by dark shadows as if the unkind reality all around cannot hide for
long. The resentful, dull grayish horror across the darkness is a terrible eponymy
in correspondence to the pretty decorations of the bride. The yellowish tinge in
one of the eyes along with the intensely poetic, other worldly, silent stare; tilt of
the head, beside the dark brownish complexion, add to the pain of the injustice
by indicating that she,( like innumerous other young women whom everyone
wanted to get rid of by marrying them off as soon as possible), may have been a
totally different kind of an imaginative person who would be modified by force
into a pathetic, traumatized, mundane creature some day . The precedence of the
shadow over the painting is significant of a veil of ignorance enforced over the
girl’s present life and future as it brings an impression of a painfully disrespectful
of women marriage in remote Indian villages: like those of Bihar. The illuminating
yellow border on the lower, geometrical sitting posture commendably gives an
impression of brightening up the lower part , in a striking contrast to the almost
entirely, darkly shadowed face and head. A portrait orientation of the
composition provides prominence to the bride and in the appropriate amount the
blind horror around her. The uniquely sensitive lines of the dark reddish veil,
smoothly slipping downwards, close along the bride’s sides create a sculpture like,
solid, hard, abstract lap finally, which reflects a rare level of psychological and
aesthetic state of the artist whose innumerous, varied works throughout life as
well significant experiences revealed to him a parallel, equally or at times more
existent plane of imagination or ‘Kalpaloke’ .
‘The earthen lamp rests on the lap of the earthen room’ : my translation of
‘Matir prodip khani achhe matir ghorer kole’ :-

‘The earthen lamp rests on the earthen room’s lap, the evening star looks forward
to watch its light. That light stays still like the keen look of a beloved, that light
quivers like a mother’s fear at heart. That light burns on and off, beneath the
brown earth’s heart, that light quivers, pained by the strong wind. Descended the
message of evening star with the blessing from the sky, the immortal flame
became eager to light up inside the mortal flame.’ This translation by me was
necessary to bring the inexplicably powerful mood. This intensively pictorial and
melodious haunt leaves its permanent presence in the mind by transporting a
solitary person to that unknown, ‘earthen room’. The cool, brown mud is a
uniquely poetic landmark here, coming in use notably to villagers in many ways.
The entire idea and treatment here indicates to the mysterious force of the
feminine.

A direct tribute to the great feminine: ‘Je chhilo amar shopon charini’ or ‘The
One Who was the Wonderer in my dreams’:-

‘The One Who was the Wonderer in my dreams, I missed to recognize Her. The
days have passed in the course of the search. You called in the auspicious
moment, O you saved me at last, I have got to know You easily. Who would turn
me away unloved, who would call me close by, in the pain of whose love am I of
any worth, O this infinite duel I cannot fight on- I got to know You alone.’ I
translated it like all others (songs or prose sections), to communicate the
essential, profound messages which are being appropriately elaborated on from
time to time. The mysterious and immortal Feminine’s regular arrival in Tagore’s
artistic psyche revealed to him Her vast identity. She arrives in innumerous forms
to the isolated, to the ones who feel choked with the absence of any hope for
their creative progression, to the ignored ones, and without any such deprivations
it is unlikely to experience Her powerful touch or a joy of the same height. She
arrives in the form of the mythological goddess of muse or Saraswati in India as
well as in a poor, unloved girl’s form who, through an anonymously in depth
journey leads us by the hand, perceptively or not, to discover boundless
revelations beyond death. The ‘search’ mentioned here had started since his
childhood and gradually was felt consciously from around adolescence, which
since then reflected variedly from to time, throughout his creations .

Importance of another personality in this discussion: Benode Bihari

Mukherjee :-
He is another remarkable artist and famous teacher at Biswa Bharati University at
Shantiniketan, whose life was forever devoted to art despite his severe optical
problem since birth and complete loss of external vision at a senior age. His
motivationally dedicated artist’s life is closely explored in the crucial,
documentary film on him: The Inner Eye by Satyajit Ray, another celebrated film
maker of Bengal. His famous citation: ‘Blindness is a new feeling, a new
experience, a new state of being’ would open the immortal, inner eyes of all to
great revelations. The power of love or the feminine power, as shown here
towards art, is enhanced with the presence of a serious trouble which it
overcomes.

Conclusion:-
The dissertation deals with our inner existence: the tremendous, emotional and
creative Feminine and Her intimate relationship with the immense spiritual
presence. Often the most trivial experiences bring us tears and this is that special
power which is not conditioned by qualities like literacy. The Feminine stays ever
nearer to the forgotten, suffering ones; like Jesus becoming one whole with His
suffering lambs, and they discover the life with a capital ‘L’.

Bibliography:-
BEHIND THE VEIL-Paintings of Rabindranath Tagore-Reminiscent of Jivanadevata,
introduced by Rajat Kanta Ray.

Golpo Guchho (a collection of short stories)- Rabindranath Tagore

Geetobitan (a huge collection of songs)- Rabindranath Tagore

Jeevansmriti (autobiography of Tagore)

Pather Panchali (rural ‘Song of the road’) and Aparajita - Bibhuti Bhushan
Banerjee

Arannak (or ‘Wilderness’)- Bibhuti Bhushan Banerjee

‘Van Gogh’ by Alberto Martini

‘Van Gogh’ by Robert Wallace and editors of Jimo Life books

Picasso’s Blue Period: Wikipedia

Palgrave’s Golden Treasury

‘Ariel’ by Andre Maurois